The Coffee is Always Better at Luke's
by DarkAngl2025
Summary: Chapter 13 Added! Happy Holidays everyone. A story about a regular week in Stars Hollow which includes sprained wrists, shattered doors, ditching school, I love yous, fist fights and more. This takes place around season 3.
1. Default Chapter

Title: The Coffee is Always better at Lukes  
  
Summary: A story about a regular week in Stars Hollow which includes sprained wrists, shattered doors, ditching school, I love yous, fist fights and more. Reoccurring characters include Rory, Jess, Luke, Lorelai, and Dean.  
  
Rating: PG-13 just to be on the safe side, for mild language  
  
Spoilers: not really, perhaps some of season 3  
  
A/N: This was a joint effort the part of Rory and Dean are by swimchic2. Check out her other great fics The part of Jess is played by me, and the part of Lorelai is played by Literati4Life and now more recently erni414 and the part of Luke was played by MiloIsMine.   
  
It was just after finals at Chilton Preparatory school, there were still a few things that needed to be done, meetings to attend, and award ceremonies and the like, but as for the work and studying it was over and finished with for the year. So in the tradition of Chilton it was party week. Madeleine was bouncing through the halls handing out flyers to everyone for her party that would be Friday night. She approached Rory at her locker. "Hi!" Madeleine said cheerily, "come please, oh and since you live in Stars Hollow bring a group of friends the more the merrier!" She handed Rory the flyer and was just about to head to the next unsuspecting Chiltonite...  
  
"Um, Thanks Madeline!" Rory shouts down hall as Madeline throws a paper in Paris's face. "I guess I could invite Lane, Dave, and Jess," she mumbles to herself. Rory drives home with anticipation about the party,and when she finally arrives home, she bursts through door, "Mom, mom!," Rory yells, "Are you home?" Rory repeats the question twice before she decides that her mother must not be home....  
  
Lorelai was just unlocking the front door when it burst open. "Jeez!" Lorelai jumped. "Rory, why are you trying to give your young vibrant mother a heart attack?" Lorelai asked as she walked in and put her purse and keys down.  
  
"Sorry Mom, but Guess what!?!," Rory said as she followed her mom into the kitchen.  
  
"Um, aliens came and blew up Chilton?" Lorelai said getting excited "ooh, wait, you were chosen to be the next American Idol or um...you got a tatoo that says mama's girl." Lorelai was beaming as she sat down and took off her heels, pleased with her three guesses.  
  
"How did you know?" Rory said jokingly as she sat down. "No but seriously, I got invited to a party on Friday night," Rory said smiling.  
  
"Really? So are you gonna go?" Lorelai questioned, "I mean it is a Chilton party, right? Don't you see enough of those snobby preps? Of course, if you did decide to go..." the wheels were already turning in Lorelai's head, "then we would have a legit excuse to get out of dinner at the grandparents, you would be going to a party and I would have the daunting task of helping you prepare." Lorelai smiled that wicked smile.  
  
Before Rory could answer her mom the doorbell rang.  
  
"C'mon Rory, open up. I come bearing gifts, or rather take-out and coffee. But it's all the same to you right?" Jess yelled from the front porch. Jess waits a second "Roorrryyy!" he bellowed once more as he smirked waiting for her to open the door.  
  
Lorelai swung the door open before Rory could get to it. "Well if it isn't a young hoodlum standing on my doorstep." Lorelai replied with a slight hint of glare that she tried to hide. "Show me the coffee, and no one gets hurt." She said imitating the old gangster movies.  
  
Rory yells "I'm coming!" as she runs to open the door. "Hi," she says as Jess gently locks his lips over hers. "Mm," Rory says smiling. "Come on in," Rory says as she follows him in through the door.  
  
"hmph" Lorelai pouted. "Sweets why do you have to ruin all my fun?" She whines, then turns and smiles sweetly at Jess when Rory gives her the "be nice" look.  
  
"Fine I get it you want me to give you some space, so give me the coffee and I'm off to do...something...with the....uh..."she looks around the kitchen..."clock timer, your friend and mine clicker." Lorelai then takes one of the coffee cups and the clock timer and goes upstairs to give her daughter some time alone with Jess.  
  
"So," Jess wrapped his arms around Rory, "what took you so long to answer the door?" He raised his eyebrows and then whispered, "just for that I'm not giving you your suprise."  
  
"Well I...Suprise! What suprise?" Rory yelled excitedly. "Oh, PLEASE tell me what the suprise is," she begged making a pouty face.  
  
"Hmmm...." Jess said dragging out the suspense, "I'm not entirely sure that you deserve the suprise. So Rory, why don't you go ahead and tell me what took you so long to answer the door, and then I'll decide." He was enjoying torturing her. He had to stifle a laugh at her cute little pout.  
  
"Ok, fine" Rory said still pouting, "I was in the kitchen telling my mom about a party I got invited to and that was when the doorbell rang, and I didn't know who it could be at the door and then i heard you call my name and then I ran to the door and then we kissed and then you came in and my mom went upstairs and now your being mean and won't tell me about my suprise," Rory said rambling on and on until she noticed that Jess was cracking up.  
  
Jess took a breath and tried to compose himself, he looked at her and smirked, "and you call that an excuse?" he teased. "So a party, huh," Jess decided to torture Rory a bit longer by not telling her about the suprise, "so are you gonna go?"  
  
Seeing the look on Rory's face that said I'm going to kill you if you don't tell me what the suprise is he finally gave in.  
  
"Here," he said pulling out a small wrapped package from his back pocket, taped to the front was a single rose, inside was a signed copy of one or Rory's favorite books, "I just found this in a used bookstore and thought you might like it." he told her as she opened the package. He waited for a reaction.  
  
"Ahhh...Ohmygosh...I don't know what to say," Rory said squeling with delight. "Thank you!" she said hugging him tightly.  
  
He hugged her back, but then he started "uh...rory...can't...breath." Jess choked out as Rory released him from the hug and looked a bit sheepish. He smirked at her, and unsure what else to say he decided to change the subject, "so what about this party?" he picked up the flyer that was on the table.  
  
"uh, well it's at Madeline's on Friday night and she invited me and said that I could bring some friends if I wanted, and so I was, uh wondering if maybe, if you weren't working, that you would come with me, that is if I can get out of Friday night dinner, but you don't have to, I would understand if you don't want to," Rory said babbling nervously.  
  
"ah jeez." Jess said running a hand through his hair, he looked at Rory. "Do you really want me to go?" he asked her.  
  
"Um...It doesn't really matter,ya know I could always just go with Lane, or Paris, that would be interesting...or I could go with both Lane and Paris...." Rory was saying until he cut her off.  
  
"Rory," Jess interrupted her rambling, "I'll go ok." Then he thought for a minute, and smirked, "you're cute when you squirm" he said quoting something she had said to him earlier that year.  
  
"You will? Really? Oh thank you, the thought of going with Paris was frightening. And I am not cute when I squirm...you are." Rory said grinning from ear to ear.  
  
Jess grinned at her, "so shall we?" he gestured toward the food that he had brought over.  
  
"oh, I'm starving! What did you bring anyway?" Rory asked walking to the table.  
  
"Let's see," Jess said as he started unloading the bag, "burgers, fries, onion rings, some apple pie, and a few brownies. And of course a thermos full of coffee." He started setting things out on the table, "oh and Luke packed some extra for Lorelai just in case." Jess then started opening up the cabinet doors. "Plates, plates, plates..." he muttered searching for something to put the food on.  
  
"Mm, sounds good." Rory said jumping up to find the plates for Jess, "So you never told me why you came over in the first place..."  
  
"oh...um..." Jess was beginning to squirm, "y'know, Luke just gave me the night off, and I haven't seen much of you lately with school and finals and well I just." his tone dropped and he hoped she couldn't here him. "I just missed seeing you" he muttered under his breath.  
  
"Oh...My little Jess has a heart after all" Rory said laughing as she finished her hamburger.  
  
Jess rolled his eyes at her and then sarcastically replied, "Don't spread that around, you'll ruin my reputation."  
  
"Oh, how could i even think about ruining your bad boy reputation." Rory shot back.  
  
Jess glared at her and then began to clear the table  
  
Lorelai came back down the stairs after she became so incredibly bored from having nothing to do. "RORYYYY." Lorelai whined, she walked into the kitchen, "hold it right there diner boy." Lorelai said as she dramatically sniffed the air. "I smell burgers, and onion rings..." she eyes the remaining food that was still in the bag, "you were holding out on me!" She pouts and then sits down where Jess had been sitting, "how could you Rory? and you Jess, why couldn't you have at least told ME you brought food before I went upstairs, I mean you like being in this house right, well if you withhold food again I'm going to make sure that you never step foot into this house again. Understand?" She then grabbed Rory's plate before Jess could take it off the table and began piling all the remaining food onto it. She took a bite, made a face then looked at them. "It's cold" she whimpered.  
  
"ma'am" Jess said to her, knowing it annoyed her. "Would you care to lick the remainder of the food off these plates before I wash them?" He smirked at Rory, who looked like she was going to kill him, then turned to Lorelai who was glaring at him hard. "I was only kidding" he said deciding to drop the jokes and just mind his own business.  
  
"Dirty," Lorelai mumbled, then realized she should be mean to Jess so she added, "Haha," Lorelai's voice dripped with sarcasm, "but y'know what, if you and mini-me finished all the food and I was starving I might actually lick every last crumb off the plates, and the table top, and the floor..." Lorelai stopped finally to pay more attention to the food that she was now shoveling into her mouth.  
  
"Jeez Ms. Gilmore," Jess said as he turned off the sink and wiped his hand on a dish towel, "I was only joking." Feeling a dirty look from Rory he decided to try to make peace with Lorelai. "Oh hey, I almost forgot, Luke sent this for you," he said pulling out a second thermos of coffee. "He mentioned something about adding too much coffee, or not enough water...something to that effect."  
  
"Bless you child," Lorelai said forgetting her supposed anger as she grabbed the thermos away from him and took a cautious sip. "Oh my God! This is the most amazing coffee ever." Lorelai was beaming as she took another sip. Soon all the coffee was gone. "I think I'm going to go see Luke and personally thank him for being my coffee angel." Lorelai got up and headed into the living room to search for her purse.  
  
"Allright, by mom!" Rory yelled. She waited untill she heard the door slam before she said "Jess, what have I told you about being nice to my mom? You want her to like you don't you? If you get on my mom's bad side she'll make your life a living hell and believe me you don't want that."  
  
"Jeez Rory, I gave her the coffee didn't I?" Jess said brushing off Rory's comment. He didn't mean to act the way he did, but whenever Lorelai was around he always hid behind his sarcastic facade. Jess turned back around to face Rory, "I'll try harder to be nice to your mom if you want me to, ok? Will that make you happy Rory?"  
  
"Do you promise?" Rory asked as she began walking towards him.  
  
"Fine," Jess rolled his eyes and tried to look bored. "But it takes two to tango, Rory." 


	2. 2

Title: The Coffee is Always better at Lukes  
  
Summary: A story about a regular week in Stars Hollow which includes sprained wrists, shattered doors, ditching school, I love yous, fist fights and more. Reoccurring characters include Rory, Jess, Luke, Lorelai, and Dean.  
  
Rating: PG-13 just to be on the safe side, for mild language  
  
Spoilers: not really, perhaps some of season 3  
  
A/N: This was a joint effort the part of Rory and Dean are by swimchic2. Check out her other great fics The part of Jess is played by me, and the part of Lorelai is played by Literati4Life and now more recently erni414 and the part of Luke was played by MiloIsMine.   
  
"Well if thats in regards to mom, then I'll talk to her, I know she's just as bad as you but if you both try then maybe you can learn to get along." Rory said as she stopped right in front of him.  
  
"Rory...I'll try, ok, but I doubt Lorelai and I are ever going to 'get along'." Jess looked around. "So now what?" He asked raising his eyebrows at her  
  
Well, what do you want to do?" Rory asked innocently.  
  
Jess smirked at Rory but decided to play along. "Well I don't know. Maybe I'll pull out my copy of 'A Farewell to Arms' and I can read it to you, since you never get the opportunity to read much Hemingway." he teased.  
  
"Or how 'bout you just go home?" Rory said sarcastically.  
  
"Huh," Jess said in that patented Jess manner of his, "Fine, I'll go home." He smiled his crooked little smile, "I'll go home if you'll come with me." He raised his eyebrows looking at her. "It'll be fine, your mom is at Luke's anyway," he paused then added, "I'll buy you coffee."  
  
"Well, I don't know, it's getting kinda late," Rory said faking a yawn.  
  
"Well then I guess I'll go so you can get some sleep." Jess said laughing to himself, " 'cause I really hate it when you're cranky, and you're always cranky when you don't get enough sleep."  
  
"Oh! I am not!" Rory said offended.  
  
"See Rory, you're cranky already." Jess said trying to hide his grin.  
  
"Ok, I'll admit it, I am cranky when I don't get enough sleep, but I can also be cranky when I don't get enough coffee." Rory said matter-of-factly.  
  
Jess laughed, "Yes and I graciously offered to buy you that coffee Rory, but you said you would rather stay here all alone, since you are just so tired." Jess smirked.  
  
"Well, I am suddenly feeling very wide-awake." Rory said not about to give up.  
  
"Huh" Jess said trying to hide his smirk. "So do you feel like going to Luke's for that promised coffee. Or did you have something else in mind?" Jess tried to say seductively well trying to hide back the laughter at Rory's behavior.  
  
Rory smirked before saying "I think I'll take the coffee, sorry though."  
  
"Your loss," Jess teased as he threw on his jacket and opened the door, holding it open while he waited for Rory. "Whenever you're ready milady." Jess called as Rory was getting her jacket on.  
  
"Aren't you just Mr. Manners today." Rory said as she walked out the door. "I guess I must be rubbing off on you." Rory said smirking.  
  
"Oh god, please no..." Jess replied sarcasrically as he shut the door behind them. "Now you've done it," Jess said after the door was shut and they were off the porch and heading toward Luke's, "now I have to do something totally heinous in this town just to make up for that one remark." He scratched his head in a winnie-the-pooh 'think think' kinda way then he turned to Rory. "I could make out with my girlfriend in the middle of town, I'm sure that's frowned upon." he glanced at Rory slyly waiting for a response.  
  
"Oh, du-du-du-dear," Rory said in a Piglet kinda way, matching his sarcasticness.  
  
Jess laughed and wrapped his arm around Rory as the two approached the diner. "Last chance." he announced before they were visible to the diner occupants through the window. He was enjoying this time alone with Rory even if all he was doing was teasing her.  
  
"Well...I don't know....." Rory said secretly hoping that he would, but not willing to say it.  
  
Jess stopped, pulled Rory to him and kissed her. He broke away and smiled at her, "still want to go to Luke's?" he asked quietly.  
  
"And what do you have in mind?" Rory said still in awe from the kiss.  
  
"Oh I don't know Rory, we can go sit on a bench somewhere and stare at our shoes." he winked at her then smirked.  
  
"Oh, ya know, that sounds like lots of fun but I think I would rather get my coffee, but maybe after that we can go somewhere and 'look at our shoes'." Rory said shivering.  
  
Jess nodded, and wrapped his arms around her and the two walked into the diner. "I'll go make a fresh pot of coffee, just for you," he whispered to her as he let go and gave her a quick peck on the cheek and then headed behind the counter to start the coffee.  
  
"Aren't I special" Rory said as she sat down at the counter.  
  
Jess turned from the coffee pot and smirked at Rory. "Let me guess you want a piece of pie too." He asked Rory as he refilled Lorelai's coffee cup with the reminder of coffee left in the old pot.  
  
"Well now that you mention it...." Rory said as she took off her coat.  
  
Jess sighed, "apple or cherry?" he asked trying to sound annoyed  
  
"Well if you're gonna get mad then forget it." Rory said getting slightly irritated.  
  
Jess realizing he was getting himself into the dog house brought Rory a piece of both apple and cherry. "Here." he winked then poured her a cup of coffee.  
  
"No, I changed my mind, If you're gonna act that way then I don't want your pie." Rory said pushing the plate away.  
  
"Fine," Jess said as he took the plate away and pulled out a fork. He took a forkful of pie and ate it. "MMmmm" he said while looking at Rory with his big brown eyes, he reached for her coffee cup. "You probably don't want the coffee either," he said around his mouthful of pie.  
  
Rory smacked his hand and grabbed the cup, "Now I didn't say that did I?" she said as she pulled the coffee up against her chest.  
  
Jess pulled his hand away trying to look like a sad pathetic puppy, but it didn't work too well because he was trying not to laugh at Rory's defensiveness over her coffee. "Starting tomorrow there is going to be a new diner rule, no coffee without pie."  
  
"Hey, didn't my mom say she was coming to the diner?" Rory said as she grabbed her fork and tried to secretly get a bite of pie.  
  
Jess pulled the plate away from Rory. "Hey, you said you didn't want any pie." he said as he glanced around the diner. "and yeah your mom said she was going to the diner...and where is Luke anyway? Seems everyone is disappearing." Jess turned back to face Rory who was still trying to get some pie from his plate. "Okay, I'll make a deal with you, a sip of coffee for a bite of pie." he raised his eyebrows at her.  
  
She raised her eyebrows back at him and sighed, "Oh allright but just one sip, and then lets go see if mom and Luke are upstairs." Rory said while sliding her coffee across the table.  
  
"Okay," Jess said as he handed her his plate and fork and took a large gulp from her coffee mug, just to annoy her. He put down the mug. "Do you hear that?" he asked as he scrunched up his face intent on listening to the sound he heard.  
  
Luke and Lorelai were locked into the store room. "Lorelai I told you not to shut the door, what's wrong with you? Has all that coffee you drink made you go deaf?" Luke yelled at Lorelai as he rammed his shoulder into the door trying to get it to open. "dammit!" he cursed as he turned to glare at Lorelai who was eyeing the coffee cans suspiciously.  
  
Lorelai rolled her eyes at Luke. "Well Lukey if you hadn't asked me to help you carry those cans into the kitchen then none of this would have happened," Lorelai said pointing to the canned vegetables that were stacked in the corner of the room. "Plus I think Roger is mad at you, with the way you keep ramming your shoulder into him and all. I wouldn't open for you either if I were him." Lorelai said speaking about the door which she named Roger. She then went back to looking at all the coffee beans Luke had in the store room.  
  
"Hey Luke, I was thinking if you sold the coffee beans with your coffee then people could get a more authentic coffee flavor, y'know like drink the coffee eat the beans." Lorelai saw the dirty look Luke was giving her, "or not." she added quietly  
  
"Lorelai we are trapped in here!" Luke spoke to her like she was a three year old. "There is no way out." He said slowly. "Do you understand?" He asked her angrily. "So stopped staring at the coffee cans, and come over here and try to help me get this door open."  
  
"You mean Roger," Lorelai said childishly as she gave the coffee beans a sad look and walked toward Luke.  
  
"Fine, will you help me get Roger open, Lorelai?" Luke barked, angry at her for causing the situation.  
  
"Dirty!" Lorelai squealed as she sauntered over to Luke. He glared at her. "Okay okay, I get the point, but I don't see what the big deal is Luke, when Jess comes back he'll let us out." Lorelai thought about that for a minute, "okay, I did not just say that." Lorelai threw herself at the door screaming hysterically "LET US OUT!!!" Luke pulled her away from the door. "We're going to be stuck in here forever, and hundreds of years from now, someone will realize we're gone and find our skeletons in the corner surrounded by all these unopened coffee cans, b/c I can't find a stupid can opener." Lorelai was rambling on and on.  
  
Jess burst out laughing. "They are stuck in the store room." Jess said to Rory while she looked at him like he had lost his mind. "y'know your mom and Luke...they are stuck in the back room," Jess said slowly in explanation.  
  
"Oh," Rory said slowly "So should we let them out.....or should we wait awhile and get me some more coffee since you drank all of mine?"  
  
Jess poured Rory a new cup of coffee still grinning like an idiot. "Y'know we could leave them there all night." Jess teased, he knew Luke would kill him in the morning. "or raid the fridge." He grinned slyly. "What do you say, let's see what kind of food good ol' Uncle Luke has stock piled."  
  
"Well you can't exactly get in trouble, because if they can't hear us then there's no proof that we could hear them, I think we should leave them in for another hour or so...then maybe they'll realize how perfect they are for each other." Rory said smirking as she followed Jess to the fridge.  
  
"wow, Rory Gilmore going against all things good and righteous," Jess teased. He winked at her and then motioned for her to follow him as he led her to the fridge.  
  
Back in the storeroom...  
  
Luke was sitting on the floor in the storeroom, leaning against the wall. He took off the baseball cap and rubbed his face with his hands. "Lorelai," Luke said sounding exhausted, "would you please stop trying to gnaw your way through that can. They will let us out, and now if you get your drool all over the can I won't be able to make coffee with those beans, and then I'll lose money." Luke just looked at her when he heard a fit of laughter come from outside the door. He thought he was imagining things. "Did you hear that?" he asked Lorelai suddenly alert.  
  
Meanwhile.....  
  
Somehow, while following Jess, Rory tripped over a box and went flying forward knocking Jess down, and landing on top of him. They both began laughing hysterically. "Ohmygosh! Are you allright Jess?" Rory asked after she gained control of herself.  
  
Jess bit his lip to keep his laughter under control and looked up at Rory and shook his head slightly. "First you insist on leaving your mom and Luke locked in the store room and now you jump me." Jess feigned seriousness. "And then you ask me if I'm all right?" He pretended to be upset. "Well gosh Rory, I just don't know, I think you might be a bad influence on me, scarred me for life, although all those scars would appear to be mental." Jess said as a way of telling Rory he was okay, but still having to tease her because it was just so much fun.  
  
Rory decided to join in on the joking, "Yep, I was just so mad at you for drinking my coffee and stealing my pie that I just had to let my anger out...I was really hoping to break your back, but I guess it was your lucky day."  
  
Jess looked at Rory "Guess so." he said as he tried to get up, but it wasn't easy seeing as how Rory was still on top of him. "Um Rory...how lucky am I?" he questioned as he gave her a weird look waiting for her to move. "not that I'm complaining, but perhaps next time you could find someplace more comfortable to attack me, you know like a couch, or a bed, or even a nice fluffy rug." he wiggled his eyebrows at her.  
  
A/N Part II: I'd like to just say thanks to everyone who reviewed the first part and I'm hoping that maybe we'll get twice as many reviews for this part. We all really appreciate your feedback, oh and between swimchic2 and I we hope to get a chapter or more up each day since we have a lot written just not typed and uploaded. So in the meantime feel free to check out our sole fics, which might seem a bit more in character and a bit more realistic for those of you who weren't particularly fond of this story. 


	3. 3

Title: The Coffee is Always better at Lukes  
  
Summary: A story about a regular week in Stars Hollow which includes sprained wrists, shattered doors, ditching school, I love yous, fist fights and more. Reoccurring characters include Rory, Jess, Luke, Lorelai, and Dean.  
  
Rating: PG-13 just to be on the safe side, for mild language  
  
Spoilers: not really, perhaps some of season 3  
  
Disclaimer: Oh yeah, forgot about this, we don't own Gilmore Girls, the characters, the actors, the writers, or the town. They all belong to WB or Amy Sherman-Palladino or some other company that we are not at all affiliated with.  
  
A/N: This was a joint effort the part of Rory and Dean are by swimchic2. Check out her other great fics The part of Jess is played by me, and the part of Lorelai is played by Literati4Life and now more recently erni414 and the part of Luke was played by MiloIsMine.   
  
"Hmmm. Yes....I'll try to make it more convenient for you if I ever attack you again" Rory said smirking.  
  
"Glad to hear it." Jess said as he smirked at Rory. He looked up at her. "So are you at least comfortable seeing as how you didn't land on the hard floor?"  
  
"Yes, I am quite comfortable, and very glad that you broke my fall because little ol me might have gotten hurt if you wouldn't have been there to save me...." Rory laughed, "You're my hero!"  
  
Jess shrugged, "well it's a tough job but someone has to do it." he leaned up a little and gave her a quick kiss. "So I take it besides being a hero I am also your new pillow, not that I mind at all."  
  
"Well, would you like me to get off?" Rory asked slyly.  
  
"Whatever," Jess said although images of gossiping Miss Patty were running through his head. He wrapped his arms around Rory as they lay there on the ground. "So Ms. Gilmore, I'm going to guess that the fridge can wait." He realized that they were pretty close to the storage room door and looked over at it wondering what Luke and Lorelai were doing.  
  
Rory followed his gaze, "Do you think that they can hear us?" she asked as she became more relaxed.  
  
Jess pondered that for a moment. "Well can we hear them?" he asked her, he had heard muffled voices earlier but now everything seemed pretty quiet. "They probably heard us laughing." Jess added finally after considering how loud they were.  
  
"Well do you think we should move then?" Rory asked as she started to get up.  
  
Jess pulled her back down and kissed her. "Okay, now we should move," he said as he smirked at her.  
  
Lorelai was sitting next to Luke with her ear pressed up against the door. "I'm gonna kill that little punk!" She said as she heard Jess and Rory laughing and talking. From the sounds of what he was saying, and something about getting up she had a feeling they were horizontal on the floor, which was never a good idea. Especially not for her daughter. "Luke what are we going to do?" she asked him, doing the pouty bottom lip thing. "I mean they know we are here and they won't let us out!" she whined Luke shrugged his shoulders. "But Lu--wait, I've got an idea." Lorelai said her eyes dancing, "it'll serve those little deviants right." she said smugly as she whispered her plan to Luke.  
  
"Lore," Luke warned, "trashing my storage space is not an appropriate way to get out of here." Lorelai did the sad puppy face and so Luke just shook his head as he continued to take down all the glass jars and anything that might burst when it is thrown off the shelf. He scooted the glass jars into a corner and then nodded to Lorelai. "Okay, I take it you aren't going to reconsider." Lorelai shook her head no, "alright then, but you WILL help me clean this up." he said as she got on the other side of one of the shelves and together they threw it to the ground. CCCCRRAAASSSHHHHH!!!!!!  
  
Before Jess or Rory had a chance to move from their spot on the ground there was a loud crash and it felt to Jess who was laying against the floor that the whole building was shaking. He jumped at the sound, unceremoniously knocking Rory backward. "Rory, jeez, I'm sorry," Jess said as he quickly stood up and helped her up. Without waiting to see if she was okay he hurried to the door "LUKE!" he yelled against the door as he rummaged in his pocket for the spare key to get the door open. "ARE YOU OKAY?" he yelled, his voice betraying the emotional attachment he had to Luke that he so often hid from everyone. His hand shook slightly as he put the key in and turned the knob, fearing what he might see.  
  
As Jess opened the door Rory screamed in pain "Agh!," when she had flown backwards,in an effort to catch herself, she had landed on her right wrist and it began to throb with pain, but she quickly erased that thought from her head as she ran to see if her mom and Luke were okay.  
  
Jess looked into the room, fearing the worst to see a satisfied looking Lorelai and an angry Luke. "Jeez!" Jess yelled at them, "what were you two thinking?!? Trying to give us a heart attack or something!?!" He turned to Rory who was looking a little pale and holding her wrist. He gave her a questioning look and then turned back to Luke. "Look what you did? Do you have any idea how long this is going to take to clean up?" Jess heard the words come out of his mouth and was bewildered by the fact that they sounded so Luke-like.  
  
Rory, not knowing what to say, just stood there clutching her wrist.  
  
Luke stared open mouthed at Jess for a minute. "What the hell do you mean look at what I did?" he bellowed. "I wasn't the one sitting outside this door laughing at the predicament, and refusing to let us out!" Luke took a breath "Unbelievable," he muttered, then after a second added, "and I'm not going to be the one to clean this up, that job has been left for you Jess." and with that Luke stormed off, and up the stairs to his apartment before Jess could complain. Slamming the door behind him.  
  
"LUKEEE!!!" Lorelai called after him, then when she didn't get an answer she shrugged and burst out laughing. "Ohmygosh! You should have seen the look on your faces when you came through that door." she said pointing, still laughing hysterically. After a few minutes she glanced over at Rory who wasn't laughing and still wasn't saying anything. Lorelai sobered herself and said "Hey sweets, I'm really sorry for scaring you, are you ok?"  
  
"Uh, my wrist hurts really bad." Rory said as she held back her tears, not wanting to cry in front of Jess.  
  
"Hun?" Lorelai looked worried, "what happened to your wrist?" Lorelai walked over to her daughter and gingerly touched her wrist.  
  
"Ror?" Jess asked quietly, the fight with Luke completely forgotten at the thought that Rory was hurt. "What happened?" he asked her with true concern. All of a sudden it hit him. "Oh jeez," he let out under his breath. He bit his upper lip and composed himself hiding behind his normal facade, "I did this didn't I?" his voice was low and full of emotion. "I'm so sorry. I didn't...I...are you gonna be ok?"  
  
"you!" Lorelai pointed at Jess giving him an evil look. "What did you do to my daughter? I swear if you broke her again..." Lorelai was livid.  
  
Now Rory was stumped and didn't know how to get out of it, if she told her mom the truth then she'd get in trouble and she lied she'd probably get caught, so Rory quickly said "When I heard that big bang I fell backwards and landed on my wrist" She figured that it wasn't lying but it wasn't telling the whole truth.  
  
"Jeez," Jess said running his hand through his hair, knowing exactly why Rory fell backward, He hadn't thought about it when he had heard the bang he just got up a little too quickly. He looked evenly at Lorelai then went into the kitchen to get some ice from the freezer, he was in search of some cubes when he found a bag of frozen peas and brought those out and handed it to Rory. "Here this should help some."  
  
Lorelai looked at her daughter, unsure of whether or not this was Jess's fault. But she had to believe Rory, because Rory wouldn't lie. "Okay sweetie, maybe we should get you to the hospital, let the nice men in those cute little matching shirt and pants with those funny slippers take some pictures of your wrist. " Lorelai said, referring to the x-ray techs wearing scrubs. "Just stay right here and I'll run home and get the car and then we'll be on our way." Lorelai said heading for the door.  
  
"Wait." Jess said to the retreating Lorelai, "I could take her." Lorelai spun around and stared at him. "If I take her, Lorelai," he said her name to try to make his plea more sincere, "she'll get there faster since she won't have to wait for you to get the car and come back." Jess thought he really needed to talk to Rory and apologize and this might be his perfect opportunity.  
  
Lorelai turned around studying Jess, 'he seems sincere' she thought to herself. She blew a breath out through pursed lips. "Rory?" Lorelai asked the very quiet Rory, "what do you want to do? Jess can take you and I will meet you there, probably only be ten minutes behind you or so. Or you can stay here and mommy will bring the car up and take you. It's up to you hun, Gilmore rule, the one in pain always gets to make the decisions." Lorelai smiled trying to make Rory feel a bit better.  
  
"Um............My wrist is starting to hurt really bad and if Jess takes me I'll get there faster, so I guess Jess." Rory finally said hoping that she wasn't hurting her moms feelings.  
  
"Okay," Jess said throwing a quick glance in Lorelai's direction just to make sure she wasn't planning on killing him. "I'll pull the truck around, meet me out front. He said to Rory as he headed out to get the vehicle.  
  
"Wow, I feel like I just stepped into the twilight zone," Lorelai said to no one in particular, "I mean what kind of world is it where my daughter gets hurt and the irresponsible evil incarnate takes her to the hospital." Lorelai looked at Rory and saw the hurt look. "Aw, hunnie, I didn't mean that, it just came out that way, you know, lack of oxygen and coffee. From being stuck in that room with Luke for a really really really long time." Lorelai gave Rory a quick hug, being careful of her arm. "I'm gonna go home and get the jeep, I'll meet you at Hartford General okay sweets. Tell Jess to drive safe, ok?" and Lorelai headed toward the door and held it open for Rory so she could get into the truck easier.  
  
"Okay, see you soon." Rory yelled to her mom as she waited for Jess.  
  
"Hey, you ready to go?" Jess asked as he pulled up in front of where Rory was standing. He nodded to Lorelai and she rolled her eyes.  
  
"Yeah," Rory said as she used her left hand to open the door, hop in, close it, and put her seatbelt on.  
  
Jess glanced back at Lorelai who was now walking toward her house. Then he started driving through Stars Hollow, heading for the hospital.  
  
"Ror?" Jess asked her, looking concerned, but refusing to look her in the eye. "I did this didn't I?" he asked her softly.  
  
"Uh....well....I..." Rory mumbled as she stared out the window.  
  
"God," Jess said as he still refused to look at her, "Rory, I am so sorry," he let out a breath. "I didn't...I wasn't...that crash surprised me," Jess was anxious unsure of what to say or do. "I never meant to..." he trailed off. He fell quiet for awhile and then asked, "does it hurt much?" Then he mentally slapped himself, 'of course it hurts a lot, you idiot!'.  
  
"It's okay Jess, really, it wasn't your fault." Rory assured him  
  
Jess looked over at Rory but didn't push the issue, he didn't want to argue with her over this. "Brings back memories doesn't it?" he said trying to lighten the mood.  
  
"Huh, sure does, except this time I had to lie to my mom about it, and last time I didn't...just don't leave this time and we can overlook it, deal?" Rory said turning for the first time to look at him. 


	4. 4

Title: The Coffee is Always better at Lukes  
  
Summary: A story about a regular week in Stars Hollow which includes sprained wrists, shattered doors, ditching school, I love yous, fist fights and more. Reoccurring characters include Rory, Jess, Luke, Lorelai, and Dean.  
  
Rating: PG-13 just to be on the safe side, for mild language  
  
Spoilers: not really, perhaps some of season 3  
  
Disclaimer: Oh yeah, forgot about this, we don't own Gilmore Girls, the characters, the actors, the writers, or the town. They all belong to WB or Amy Sherman-Palladino or some other company that we are not at all affiliated with.  
  
A/N: We love reviews! wink wink Also just like to say thanks to smile1, Lunatic Lauren, and Miriam Dickens for reviewing, your criticisms, critiques, and pleas for more are much appreciated.  
  
"I'll agree under one condition," Jess said smirking just a little, "if you need anything at all, books, magazines, someone to fluff your pillow, whatever, you'll let me know, ok?" Jess asked alternating looking at the road and Rory.  
  
"Fine with me" Rory said wondering if her mom would be really mad at Jess. "I hope my mom doesn't get mad at you" she said as she turned her gaze back to the window.  
  
"Yeah, I kinda like all my body parts being attached," Jess added. They drove for awhile in silence. "Look if you want to tell her what happened, I'll take the blame."  
  
"No Jess, I can't tell her, you've already done this once, and this time, she would never ever forgive you..." She realized what she said and almost jumped out of the car "No, I mean this time wasn't your fault and neither was last time! I just meant that to her, it would seem like your fault and you would be banned from me."  
  
Jess's face fell for a second and was quickly replaced by his stoic attitude. "Rory it was my fault, both times. Maybe your mom is right." Jess blew a breath out slowly. He glanced at her and could tell she was going to protest. "Look, I don't want to be responsible for causing you and Lorelai to drift apart. I will not do that to you Rory. And if I could fix this I would, so just decide what you want to do, and make sure that's what you want and I'll go along with it. I want to make this right Rory."  
  
Rory stared deeply into space for a minute while she thought about it, she didn't want to lose Jess again yet she was pretty sure her mom would find out somehow, just because she's Lorelai, and be so pissed off that Jess would have been banned from the town. Finally she spoke "How would you explain it, what would you tell her?"  
  
"Hell if I know," Jess said and then began to ponder, "well how's this sound," as if he were speaking to Lorelai, " 'Rory and I were sitting in the diner drinking coffee and eating pie, when we heard voices coming from the store room. Then we were planning to let you out when we were done eating but then we got a bit distracted when we heard the crash and...well Rory and I both jumped and Rory ended up going backward and uh...landed wrong.' " Jess looked at Rory, "yeah I know it's pathetic, but I know that you aren't comfortable lying to Lorelai so I'm trying to make it true with lack of details. So what do you think?"  
  
"I think you're not the best storyteller," Rory said slightly smirking. "I don'tknow Jess, can you come up with anything better because, ya know, I'm not known to jump up, out, and over my chair onto my back at the sound of a bang."  
  
Jess laughed, "why Ms. Gilmore, are you suggesting that I outwardly lie to your mother, because that I can do. However, if you want the aspect of truth in there you're going to have to help me come up with the story."  
  
"Well how bout me and you were sitting on the counter and we heard the bang and I fell backwards off of it because I was so surprised?" Rory suggested trying to be creative.  
  
"I thought you weren't the type to fall backwards at the sound of a bang." Jess teased. "Okay, that might work. Or how bout you were trying to grab the coffee pot away from me because I told you you were already too hyper when the crash came causing you to jump, tripping over the stools and falling backward?" Jess looked at Rory who had a very amused look on her face. "What? It was only a suggestion."  
  
"Or we could actually use the truth up to a point...We could tell her that I was chasing you, because you stole my pie and that.....Wait no, the blame would still be on you....or how 'bout if I was following you through the diner and when I heard the bang, I turned around real fast and ran towards the store room door then I tripped over a chair or something and I went flying backwards."  
  
"Rory if you tripped over a chair you would be thrown forward not backward. Okay so what if we put the blame on me but make it clear it was an accident, and leave out the whole laying on the floor part."  
  
Rory made a pouty face, "Well what if I tripped over it and started to fly forward but I turned so that I wouldn't land face first....well I don't see you suggesting anything better, or no wait, you had a real good one, 'Mom I got scared when I heard the bang and I did a back flip out of my chair...lets do that one!' "  
  
Jess shook his head, "yeah and after that you can tell Lorelai that you decided to become an acrobat and join the circus." All of a sudden a light went on in Jess's head, "Wait a sec, why does it have to be that you fell back, I mean isn't it possible that you did in fact fall forward but twisted your arm some weird way when you landed..." Jess questioned.  
  
"Well, it has to be backwards because I'm pretty sure that I told her that I fell backwards when I heard the big bang and that I tried to catch myself and I landed on my wrist."  
  
"You did?" Jess asked, all he remembered was being incredibly worried and then yelling at Luke, everything else just sort of phased out.  
  
"Okay, so we're almost at the hospital, so I guess your story about following me through the diner and then running towards the store room door will have to work. So how bout the reason you fell backward was because the floor was slick from where it had been waxed earlier...so when you tripped over the box, which really did happen, right?, then you tried to keep from falling by leaning back causing you to fall backward hurting your wrist." Jess had a proud look on his face.  
  
"Works for me." Rory said looking at her wrist, "Are you gonna tell her or should I? And how do we explain not telling her that in the first place? What if we say that I was embarrassed because I should have remembered about the floors or that I was embarrassed to be so worried about them."  
  
"Okay, depending on when she arrives will depend on who tells her. If your in x-ray I'll let her know, and it will just be embarrassment over both the floors and the worry. ok?" Jess asked her gently. "And if you tell her, please don't do the blinky thing, if you do the blinky thing she'll kill us both and no one will ever find our bodies." Jess joked.  
  
"Ok, no blinky thing" Rory agreed as they pulled up to the hospital and she waited as Jess ran around to help her out. "Thank you" Rory said as he closed the door.  
  
"This way milady," Jess said as he escorted her inside the hospital. He looked around at the corridors that stretched out in all directions in front of him. "Um...ok, now where to?" he asked Rory who was also looking around.  
  
"Well, I guess we could go this way," Rory said pointing with her left hand to a corridor that had a desk at the end.  
  
"Guess that's why you're the one who goes to the smart school," Jess teased as he led Rory down the hallway and approached the desk, unsure of whether or not Rory wanted to explain the situation or if she wanted him to do it.  
  
"Hi, um..I hurt my wrist and I need to see a doctor, cause it hurts pretty bad." Rory said after taking a deep breath.  
  
"Take a seat and fill out the papers" said the woman who's name tag said Judy.  
  
"Uh, okay I guess" Rory said as she grabbed the clipboard with her free hand. She looked down at the papers which seemed to be multiplying under her own eyes. "Uh, Judy, what is all of this for exactly?" Rory asked looking up.  
  
"Please take a seat and fill out the papers and you'll find out." Judy said getting a little on the snappy side.  
  
Rory turned and began to walk to a chair, when Jess stopped her.......  
  
Lorelai was in a frenzy, she had just gotten home and gotten her jeep and was headed toward the hospital when the stupid red light that Taylor had installed in town stopped her. "I don't have time for this," Lorelai whined to the light. She looked left and right debating whether or not to run the light when she noticed Luke standing outside his diner looking bewildered by everyone's sudden disappearance. Lorelai threw one more look at the light that was still red then put her car in park and got out. "Luke," she called to him. "Lock up and get in, and don't ask any questions I'm in a hurry." Lorelai said then she got back in her car and drummed her fingers on the dashboard waiting for him.  
  
"Hang on a sec," Jess said to Rory as he turned back to Judy. "Maybe you missed it the first time, but her wrist hurts, and she needs someone to look at it NOW, do you understand?" Jess asked angrily. "So I'll be happy to fill out all the lovely papers you want, but she will see a doctor and she will see a doctor now." Jess said forcefully, as he stared at the woman with what could only be seen as rage.  
  
"Uh, well I suppose you could fill out the paperwork while the doctor examines her wrist?" Judy asked purposely as a question to see if Jess would except this offer.  
  
"Isn't that what I just said," Jess asked the woman like she had three heads. He gently took the clipboard from Rory who was standing there looking a bit surprised. "Okay, so now would you be so kind as to call a doctor?" Jess asked Judy through gritted teeth.  
  
"Oh yes right away" Judy says as she picks up the phone to page a doctor. "Sir, you can go into that room right there, the second one to the left."  
  
"Thank you," Jess said insincerely to Judy as he turns his back to her. He looks at Rory. 'Sir?' He mouths to her, and she giggles slightly. He gives her a quick peck on the cheek, "are we having fun yet?" he asked her quietly.  
  
"You were so mean to that poor lady," Rory whispered as they turned and began walking to the room. "Thanks for that."  
  
Jess smirked, "Anytime," Jess said as he skimmed the papers he promised to fill out. 'Great I don't know half of this stuff.' he thought to himself but instead said to Rory, "Yeah, actually I thought I was quite calm, just imagine how Lorelai would have reacted to that situation."  
  
Rory laughed "Yeah, I'm sure she would be thrown out by the security guard."  
  
Lorelai was driving toward the hospital and explaining everything that happened at the diner. "Wow, I sure missed a lot." Luke said once Lorelai was finished explaining. "So Rory is going to be ok, right? And this wasn't Jess's fault for once?" Luke asked her as she pulled up at the hospital.  
  
"I think so, and I don't think so." Lorelai said grinning at her play on words, "Of course if an opportunity presents itself for me to string up that little nephew of yours I'd be happy to take it." Lorelai looked over at Luke as she parked the car and took the keys out. "So you going to come in, or are you going to stay out in the car and wait for us."  
  
"Of course I'm coming in," Luke said defensively, "just because I dont like hospitals doesn't mean that I would sit out here for God knows how long waiting for you to get back."  
  
"Okay Lukey, you can be my back-up in there," Lorelai said conspiratorially. "Come on diner man." and with that she led the way into the hospital, walking aimlessly down hallways looking for Rory or Jess.  
  
"RORRRYYYY!!!" Lorelai yelled down one hallway. "MOMMY'S HERRREEEE!!!! RORRRYYY!!!!" Lorelai continued to yell waking up various sleeping patients and disturbing everyone.  
  
"Sounds like your mom made it here in one piece," Jess said as he heard her begin to verbally assault one of the nurses sitting at a desk. "Maybe I should go get her before that security guard really does throw her out." Jess said getting up, it was a great excuse to avoid filling out the paperwork that he had no idea about.  
  
"Yeah, you better, and since she's here I guess that means you're off the hook." Rory said pointing to the papers.  
  
"hmph," Jess scoffed, "I could fill those out whenever I wanted to, I just wanted to make sure you were settled first, and now I have to go get Lorelai, but I'd be happy to fill them in when I get back Rory." Jess said as he walked out the door. 


	5. 5

Title: The Coffee is Always better at Lukes  
  
Summary: A story about a regular week in Stars Hollow which includes sprained wrists, shattered doors, ditching school, I love yous, fist fights and more. Reoccurring characters include Rory, Jess, Luke, Lorelai, and Dean.  
  
Rating: PG-13 just to be on the safe side, for mild language  
  
Spoilers: not really, perhaps some of season 3  
  
Disclaimer: Oh yeah, forgot about this, we don't own Gilmore Girls, the characters, the actors, the writers, or the town. They all belong to WB or Amy Sherman-Palladino or some other company that we are not at all affiliated with.  
  
A/N: Once again thanks to all our loyal reviewers, you guys are the best!  
  
Rory smirked, grabbed the clipboard and quickly hid it under her chair. As cute as it was that Jess wanted to help, her mom would have to do this one in order to not feel left out.  
  
Jess poked his head back in the door, "I saw that," he smirked and then went to find Lorelai.  
  
Rory laughed and looked around the room and thought about the last time she was here, same arm and everything. She looked up to see her mom, Jess, and Luke walking down the hall.  
  
"Honey!" Lorelai squealed as she ran into the room ahead of the two men and hugged Rory fiercely. "I tried to get here sooner, but the stupid red light and then trying to explain everything to Luke and than those stupid nurses..." she babbled on. Then let go of Rory, "so has a doctor been in yet? Did he say anything? Are you okay?" she paused took a breath, "how is the coffee here?" she asked with a slight smile.  
  
"Breath mom, in-out-in-out" Rory said laughing, "and no, the doctor hasn't come yet, but you need to fill these papers out for nurse Judy out there," Rory said pointing. "And coffee would be good, why don't you go look for coffee."  
  
Lorelai took another breath. "Stupid doctors, spend too much time ordering foreign cars instead of seeing to patients, and nurse Judy? Anything like Judge Judy cause that lady kinda scares me. And coffee..." Lorelai glanced at Luke who was standing just outside the door staring at the floor. "Luke coffee, we need coffee. Fetch Lukey fetch." Lorelai teased knowing Luke needed something to do.  
  
"Ok mom," Rory reached under her chair and grabbed the clipboard, "Here's the paperwork you need to fill out." she said and handed it to her.  
  
"Hiding it from the boogey man?" Lorelai asked as she took a pen and started filling out the papers at record speed.  
  
"Naw, just Jess" Rory said laughing at her mom.  
  
"Hey," Jess said from the doorway. He was leaning against the door jamb unsure of what to do. Luke had gone to go get coffee and after their fight earlier Jess hadn't wanted to go, of course considering the fact that it was highly possible Lorelai might kill him sometime in the very near future he wasn't sure that hanging around was a very good option either. "I told you I would have been more than happy to fill out those papers, but someone apparently doesn't trust me with that task." Jess made a "I'm hurt" face at Rory and then smirked when she gave him that "oh sure" look of hers.  
  
Lorelai turned at the sound of his voice she had forgotten he was still there. "Ooh, so you know what insurance company Rory has and what her insurance account number is?" Lorelai asked him as she read the next to questions from the paper off to him. He shrugged and rolled his eyes. "ha!" Lorelai exclaimed triumphantly as she finished filling out the last form. "So would either of you like to tell me exactly what happened?" Lorelai asked just as the doctor walked in the room.  
  
"Wow, you just took the words right out of my mouth," the doctor said as he walked past Jess and into the exam room. He took the clip board from Lorelai and glanced over what it said for cause of visit. He looked at the way Rory was holding her right arm and gingerly touched it.  
  
"Ow," Rory said, "That hurt." She looked at Jess before deciding to tell the story herself. "Well, its kinda embarrassing, but.... I was following Jess through the diner and then I heard the bang and I turned around real fast and ran towards the store room door, and then I tripped over a box that I didn't see and went flying backwards and I tried to catch myself but I ended up falling on my wrist." Rory said stopping to breath, "And thats what happened, the whole story, so...do need x-rays or something?" she asked the doctor.  
  
"Probably, just to be on the safe side," he said reassuring Rory as he looked at Lorelai, "I pulled your daughter's chart, she hurt this wrist before. So she most likely just aggravated the previous injury, but we should probably x-ray just to be on the safe side."  
  
"All right, is that all?" Rory asked ready to get it over with already.  
  
"Yeah, if you'll follow me I'll take you down to x-ray now." he said as he walked past Jess and waited for Rory in the hall.  
  
"Yikes" Rory whispered and raised her eyebrows at Jess as she walked through the door and into the hall after the doctor.  
  
Jess gave Rory a quizzical look. And smirked. "Have fun." He mumbled to her.  
  
"Right this way, Miss Gilmore," the doctor said as he led Rory down to x- ray.  
  
"Right back at ya." Rory yelled behind her as she laughed at the thought of Jess being alone with her mom, hopefully Luke won't be gone long.  
  
"Smile pretty for the camera," Lorelai called to Rory's retreating back. She then turned her focus to Jess. "So..." she looked at him, contemplating what to do to him. "She tripped?" Lorelai asked him rather harshly.  
  
"Yup," Jess said thinking that at least who could answer that part honestly seeing as how Rory did trip at some point during the night. 'I wish Luke were here' he thought, even though they had argued at least Lorelai would be focused on something else. "So, uh...maybe I should go look for Luke," Jess said trying to find an escape from her unending stare.  
  
Meanwhile in the x-ray room......."Um, I kinda don't remember how to do this. Would you mind explaining it?" Rory asked the doctor.  
  
"It's rather simple Miss Gilmore," the doc said smiling reassuringly, "just place--wait you aren't wearing a watch or jewelry or anything on that arm are you? Because you need to take that off first, then simply place your arm right there and the technician in the back will press a button and take the x-ray."  
  
"Yeah, ok, just let me take my watch off first." Rory said as she began to try and take it off, which as she found out, looked easier than it was. "Um, uh, could you uh, help me with this?" Rory asked blushing slightly.  
  
The doc smiled at Rory and took off her watch for her. "There ya go," he said to her as he motioned into the guy in the other room to get the x-ray machine ready. "Whenever you're ready." he said to her  
  
"Okay, I'm ready now" Rory said as she placed her arm in the machine.  
  
The doc signaled to the tech who flipped a switch and a click could be heard in the x-ray room. "Ok, that's it, you can go back to your room now and I'll bring the x-ray in a few minutes." the doc said as he headed off toward the technician.  
  
As Rory opened the door and began to turned to walk down the hall, she jumped in surprise when she saw Jess standing there. "Hey," Rory said quickly, "What are you doing?"  
  
"Hiding from your mother," he said matter-of-factly. "Well technically I'm supposed to be looking for Luke, but decided to wait for you instead. So..." he looked at her wrist, "any news?"  
  
Rory laughed, "What did she say to you??? And we're waiting for the x-ray to come in.......I'm supposed to go back to my room."  
  
"Oh just the usual, how did this happen...ok, well if you ever come near my daughter again I'll have you castrated." Jess said grimly, although he was teasing about what she had actually said that had seemed to be appropriate for the look Lorelai had given him.  
  
Rory laughed "Well, we wouldn't want that would we?" Rory, catching what she said, immediately regretted it and hoped that Jess wouldn't catch it. She looked up at him to see if he had and started to blush when she saw that he was raising his eyebrows at her.  
  
"No we wouldn't." he chuckled. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "c'mon I'll walk you back to your room. And if your mom gets all psycho you are going to save me."  
  
"I'm sure you can fend for yourself," Rory said as she rested her head on his shoulder with a million thoughts racing through her head..........He smells SO good...He's really sweet once you get to know him..Mom just needs to get to know him better..I'm really comfortable with him..I really like him, heck, I might even LOVE him....hmm... Rory was pondering this when they arrived at her room.  
  
"We're here." he said as he peered cautiously through the doorway. "This is the room right?" he asked her since it seemed Lorelai and Luke were no where to be found  
  
"Yeah, it is," Rory said as she looked around, "I wonder where they are...maybe mom went to look for Luke,oh well, lets go in and wait for the x-ray results."  
  
Jess nodded and followed Rory into the room. He sat down in a chair and crossed his arms staring at his shoes. "So..." he began suddenly feeling tongue tied..."I just," he looked up at her and then quietly added. "I am really sorry for all this."  
  
She sat down in the chair next to him, "Jess, its okay, I forgive you, really, now can you please forget about it?" Rory asked before leaning in and kissing him on the cheek.  
  
Jess shrugged in a noncommital way and kissed Rory on the lips just as he heard a "ahem" coming from the doorway. 


	6. 6

Title: The Coffee is Always better at Lukes  
  
Summary: A story about a regular week in Stars Hollow which includes sprained wrists, shattered doors, ditching school, I love yous, fist fights and more. Reoccurring characters include Rory, Jess, Luke, Lorelai, and Dean.  
  
Rating: PG-13 just to be on the safe side, for mild language  
  
Spoilers: not really, perhaps some of season 3  
  
Disclaimer: Oh yeah, forgot about this, we don't own Gilmore Girls, the characters, the actors, the writers, or the town. They all belong to WB or Amy Sherman-Palladino or some other company that we are not at all affiliated with.  
  
A/N: We're really glad you all are enjoying the story, thanks for the wonderful reviews!  
  
Rory pulled away from Jess quickly and looked up, "Um, uh, hi Mom, uh we were just, uh well I was afraid that I might have bad breath from those onion rings I had at the Diner earlier and so, uh Jess was checking for me." Rory said blushing at the fact that her mother and Luke had just caught her and Jess kissing.  
  
"Great cover story," Jess muttered very sarcastically to Rory, while he leaned against the nearest wall and stared intently at his shoes.  
  
Rory glared at Jess, and turned to the doctor, who was just walking in the door, "So are the x-ray results in?"  
  
"Yes," the doc said taking a seat once inside the room. "Like I suspected you've only irritated it. You won't need a cast but I do think that you should wrap it in an ace bandage and try not to use it much at all for the next couple of weeks."  
  
In the hallway Jess let out a breath he had been unconsciously holding.  
  
"Alright, I think I can manage that...Now can I go home?" Rory asked as she yawned. I wonder if mom will make me go home with her Rory thought glancing at her mom and then Jess.  
  
"Sure I don't see why not." the doc said but then on second thought turned to Lorelai and said "I need you to go down to billing and make sure that they have gotten all the paper work you filled out before and pay your co- pay or whatever plan your insurance policy has. You know hospitals and policies," he added sympathetically.  
  
"Great!!!" Rory said jumping up from her chair, "Mom, do you want me to wait and go home with you or what?"  
  
Jess cleared his throat and settled back against the door jamb with the classic hands in his pockets look.  
  
Rory looked over at Lorelai who was staring into space, "Mom, mom, hello!" Rory said waving her hand in front of her face "MOM!!!"  
  
Jess glanced at Luke who was trying to stifle a laugh, then decided to stare at his shoes, hints of a smirk appearing on his face.  
  
"Wha?" Lorelai said coming back from never-never land. "Uh, sorry, I was just...," Lorelai looked around at the grins on everyone's faces. "Is it my fault the oompa-loompas sing that cute little song that you just can't get out of your head?" She asked quizzically. Lorelai blinked a few times and then said, "right so I'll just head down to billing and get the paperwork sorted out. Rory hun, you gonna be able to stay awake long enough for mommy to fill out the boring papers from hell?"  
  
"Um, well, I'm getting kinda tired and well.." Rory glances at her watch, "It's almost 12, so it depends on if you want me to go home with you..." Rory says and takes a quick look at Jess who seems to be bored out of his mind.  
  
Jess notices Rory's look and realizes that it's time to say something, "oh um...do you...uh, want me to drive you back?" he asks Rory, knowing that they will have to wait for Lorelai to give permission.  
  
"Um..well..mom would it be ok? Because I'm really tired and its really late and I've got school tomorrow so the sooner I get home the sooner the better, plus I still have homework to do....Oh My Gosh!!! I totally forgot!" Rory said starting to rant, "I have an English test tomorrow thats worth half of my grade and if I bomb it then i'll be kicked out of school and then i won't be accepted to Harvard because they don't want people who fail English tests!!" Rory got up and stated pacing "And then where will i go? Huh?! Where?! No college will want me and I'll be stuck working at McDonalds the rest of my life!" Rory, obviously finished with her rant, sat back down in her chair and looked around the room to see everyone giving her weird looks.  
  
"Breathe babe," Lorelai said trying to calm down the freaking out Rory, "you already know everything about English, you'll be fine." She noticed Rory preparing to protest, "but if you really want to study for the big scary test so it won't be so big and scary then I guess Jess can take you home." Lorelai said grudgingly, she hadn't seen her daughter much at all today but there was always tomorrow she reassured herself. Lorelai turned to Jess, "You, drive safely, anything happens to her, and I'll kill you, remember I've devised at least a hundred ways to hurt someone badly with hedge clippers." She turned back to Rory, "and you, don't do anything I would." she winked at her.  
  
"Yes ma'am" Jess mock saluted Lorelai before stuffing his hands back in his pockets and waiting for Rory to meet him out in the hallway. He rummaged around and found his lighter, no cigarettes though since he had given them up awhile ago b/c Rory didn't like them. 'C'est la vie' Jess thought to himself as he caught a glimpse of her approaching him from the exam room.  
  
"Alright, see you at home mom!" Rory said as she kisses her mom on the cheek and walks out the door. She watches Jess quickly stuff something into his pocket. "I saw that!" Rory says walking towards him "If you gave up smoking, then what's the point of the lighter?" Rory asked taking his hand with her free hand.  
  
"Never know when you might need to light something on fire," he said matter of factly, " plus it's a lot of fun watching the people in school panic when the sprinkler system goes on for no apparent reason." He raised his eyebrows in a thoughtful expression.  
  
"You're terrible!" Rory exclaimed and hit him in the arm.  
  
"Hey!" Jess said rubbing his arm in mock hurt, "I was only kidding. But can't you just picture the expression on twenty or thirty people's faces when all of a sudden they get their second shower of the day."  
  
"Or quite possibly there first!" Rory said laughing.  
  
"So you're saying that I might be aiding public health in general by setting off the sprinkler system?" Jess asked trying his best to seem serious.  
  
Rory frowned, "No! That's not what I'm saying!"  
  
"Sure sounds that way," Jess teased, "I mean I will have to weigh the consequences of my actions before I decide definitely whether or not I should go through with it." he recalled Luke saying something along those lines one day when he was lecturing Jess and he figured it seemed appropriately to quote them to Rory now.  
  
"Oh, yes, I agree." Rory said mockingly, "You wouldn't want to do anything that might get you in trouble at school....or with LUKE." Rory said putting emphasis on Luke.  
  
"Oh golly gee Rory I think you're right, hell hath no fury like an uncle Luke scorned." Jess said with that smart-alecky way he had about him. He noticed Rory's "evil glare". "But just to let y'know I wouldn't really set off the sprinklers, all that water might mess up my hair." he said knowingly.  
  
Rory nodded in agreement and said, "Yes, the hair is everything, you are the hair, you know, i probably wouldn't have liked you in the first place if your hair wasn't that good. It just drew me to you", Rory said trying to keep a straight face, "How long does it take you to get your hair that way in the morning anyway...a half hour, 45 minutes?? I bet you spend more time on your hair then I do on mine...and you definitely wouldn't want to ruin all that effort with the sprinklers, now would ya?"  
  
"So the truth finally comes out," Jess said trying his best to sound disappointed but failing miserably, "it's only my hair that you like, it's not me at all." he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "first thing tomorrow I'm going to go out and buy all the hair supplies in this town just to make sure that no one else will ever have better hair than me. And those days when it's just not bouncin' and behavin' I'll have to lock myself in my room so you won't see how horrible my hair looks on those few very rare occasions, 'cause I just couldn't afford to lose you to some guy with better hair. Jess nodded his head slightly at his own reasoning, a smirk creeping ever so slightly onto his face.  
  
"I'm not sure I could handle a day without seeing you...So you should scratch that idea." Rory said smirking as they walked out of the hospital, "Or learn to control that hair of yours"  
  
"Why Miss Gilmore, I never realized I mattered that much to you," Jess teased as he opened the car door for Rory, "so I'm the proverbial ray of light at the end of the tunnel?"  
  
Rory gasped, "Oh, no! You've found me out!" She said laughing as she sat down and tried to fasten her seatbelt and remembered that she couldn't do it. "Uh, Jess, could you uh help me...pretty please with a cherry on top." Rory asked giving him her sweetest smile, "I'm just so helpless; I need someone strong to help me." Rory added grinning.  
  
Jess pretended to debate the idea in his head for awhile then he leaned in over Rory, "well since you asked so nicely," and proceeded to fasten her seatbelt.  
  
"Well, thank you" Rory said as she wiggled around in her seat, trying to get comfortable.  
  
Jess closed her door and went around the car to the other side and got in. "Are you ready or do you need me to fluff your pillows for you too, miss?" he asked as he watched her wiggle around in her chair.  
  
"Well now that you mentioned it..." Rory said teasing, "No, I'm just kidding...let's go."  
  
Jess put the car in reverse and backed out of the parking space and then headed for the highway. "English, huh," Jess glanced over at Rory.  
  
Rory began to blush, "I, uh, well uh, I, um...well I could, uh, possibly have an English quiz tomorrow, maybe...you never know when you might get a pop quiz....." Rory said quickly "So I figured that I should probably study, just in case."  
  
Jess laughs lightly, "Rory Gilmore, I am so ashamed of you, lying to your mother like that," he shakes his head slightly trying to hide his smirk from her, "you are turning into such a bad influence on me. Uncle Luke would be so disappointed to know that I'm spending time with a liar."  
  
"Well I learn from the best," Rory says smirking, "And I thought you'd be flattered that I'd rather drive home with you" Rory added, "...and I wasn't really in the mood for a lecture, slash, 'I know it's his fault that this happened and I'm going to hunt him down and shoot him and then he will never break you again' thing from mom" Rory sighed, "So i figured i would bypass that until tomorrow morning at least...or perhaps i could avoid that conversation until tomorrow night, maybe by then she'll have forgotten all about it."  
  
Jess looked at Rory skeptically, "Lorelai forget her need to hunt me down and kill me, highly unlikely." He let out a breath and frowned thinking that maybe Lorelai was right about it always being his fault, after debating what to say or not say Jess settled on, "Ror, what do you want me to do to fix this?" 


	7. 7

Title: The Coffee is Always better at Lukes  
  
Summary: A story about a regular week in Stars Hollow which includes sprained wrists, shattered doors, ditching school, I love yous, fist fights and more. Reoccurring characters include Rory, Jess, Luke, Lorelai, and Dean.  
  
Rating: PG-13 just to be on the safe side, for mild language  
  
Spoilers: not really, perhaps some of season 3  
  
Disclaimer: Oh yeah, forgot about this, we don't own Gilmore Girls, the characters, the actors, the writers, or the town. They all belong to WB or Amy Sherman-Palladino or some other company that we are not at all affiliated with.  
  
A/N: We're really glad you all are enjoying the story, thanks for the wonderful reviews!  
  
"I don't think you can do anything to fix it Jess." Rory said after pondering how to answer, "It's over and talking about it isn't going to fix it."  
  
"Ok." he said simply. He got lost in his thoughts as he continued the drive back toward Rory's house.  
  
They sat in awkward silence for a few minutes. Rory was trying to come up with something to talk about and finally said, "So...today's Monday...and tomorrow's Tuesday." Oh my gosh, why did I say that? I'm such a dork.  
  
"Wow, that school of yours is really somethin," Jess said laughing at Rory, totally understanding her need to break the uncomfortable silence. "So do you want to stop somewhere for coffee or donuts or something?" He asked seeing a sign for a Dunkin' Donuts.  
  
Rory blushed, "Yeah, I would love to get some coffee...and donuts would be good too."  
  
"Coffee and donuts it is," Jess said as he pulled off the main road and headed in the direction of the Dunkin Donuts sign. As he pulled up to the donut shop he had a second thought and asked, "Your mom isn't going to be pissed by this little detour is she?"  
  
"Now that you mention it...we should probably make that to go." Rory said nodding in agreement that, if her mom got home before them, she would probably think that something fishy was going on.  
  
"Right," Jess said as he got out of the car and opened up the various doors for Rory until they were standing at the counter waiting for the guy in the back to come take their order. "So know what you want?" Jess asked as he casually wrapped his arm around Rory's waist.  
  
"Yep. Coffee, black. And 2 sprinkled donuts." Rory said quickly, "Please," she added as she rested her head on his shoulder.  
  
"I'm guessing both of those donuts are for you," Jess said laughing at Rory's apetite even at this time of night. He noticed a bell and started ringing it in a bored fashion until the guy came to the counter to take their order. "Yeah, I'd like, two coffees, one black, one with two sugars, two sprinkled donuts and a chocolate creme donut." Jess rattled off as he used his free hand to fish out his wallet. He handed the guy the money and then pondered how they were going to get out the door and into the car with two coffees and a bag of donuts. "Hey Rory, grab the donuts," Jess said as he took the coffee away from her gently and took his own coffee and used his back to open the door for her.  
  
"Sir, yes sir!" Rory said saluting and then quickly grabbed the bag as they walked out the door.  
  
"Very funny," Jess responded sarcastically as he backed through the door after Rory. They got to the car, and Jess put the cups on the roof as he opened the door for Rory, helped her in, handed her her cup and then went around to the other side and got in. "All set?" he asked her.  
  
"Yep," Rory said nodding and taking a sip of her coffee, "Thank you for the coffee and donuts."  
  
"Sweets for my sweet," Jess said in a pathetic attempt at a British accent. He noticed Rory give him a strange look, "sorry just reread Jane Eyre the other night and kinda pictured a modern version of Rochester saying something cliché like that, guess I need some more work on the accent." He put the key in the ignition and backed out of the spot and headed back toward Stars Hollow. "Mind handing me a donut," he asked as he took a sip from his own cup, he swallowed then continued, "unless you rather take the wheel."  
  
"So are you comparing yourself to Mr. Rochester?" She asked frowning as she handed him his donut. "Because you are nothing like Mr. Rochester...Does that make me Jane Eyre?"  
  
"huh," Jess said pretending to ponder that question while he munched on his donut. "I'd say Jane pales in comparison, and just to be clear, is it a good thing that I'm not like Rochester?"  
  
"Well, I wouldn't really mind being like Jane, just as long as you don't think that you're like Mr. Rochester...well you could be...intellectually maybe but..." Rory didn't want to tell him why he wasn't like Mr. Rochester, but figured that he'd trap her into it anyway.  
  
Jess glanced over at her, "but what Rory?" he asked her simply waiting for her to continue.  
  
Rory squirmed..."Well, it's just that everyone thinks that Mr. Rochester is, well, ugly." She finally said blushing.  
  
Jess gasped, "why Rory I do believe that was a compliment." He laughed, "so you think I'm...not ugly," Jess was enjoying watching her squirm.  
  
Rory blushed, "No...You're not so bad" She said after once again squirming.  
  
"This is all about the hair again isn't it?" Jess tried to sound frustrated as he asked her.  
  
Rory laughed, "Shave your head, and we'll find out." She tried to picture him bald and started cracking up, "No, I change my mind...don't do it!" She said after she got a hold of herself.  
  
"See it is about the hair!" Jess said sounding exasperated. He pretended to sulk in his chair.  
  
Rory smirked, "No, it's not ALL about the hair...it's just that if you didn't have hair, then your face would look...a little less attractive." She said blushing.  
  
"And then I'd be just like Rochester," Jess said sighing, "well that's okay Rory, as long as you'd still be my Jane."  
  
"Of course I would," She said smirking, "But...You don't think that I'm like Jane do you?"  
  
"You're smart and brilliant and beautiful," Jess said hoping that that answer would satisfy her question since he figured she would have to pay him back for all the squirming he put her through with his Rochester question.  
  
Rory smiled, "And Jane was...what?" She asked thinking that she wasn't gonna let him off that easy.  
  
"Oh I'm sorry what I just said, that described Jane almost perfectly," Jess said deciding to try to joke his way out of a serious answer, "you my dear, well you are a coffee-holic who likes to hog the donuts."  
  
"No fair!" She exclaimed, "I gave you a real answer! How am I not like Jane???"  
  
"Take it easy Ror, I was just kidding." Jess took a breath, "Okay I think that you are in someways kinda like Jane, the whole smart and pretty thing, but there is so much more to you that makes you entirely unique and special and just much much more."  
  
"Aww, how sweet." Rory said smiling and taking a bite of her donut.  
  
Jess finished his coffee and threw the empty cup into the back, "Next stop Stars Hollow," he said as he saw a sign for the town fast approaching.  
  
Rory chugged her coffee and followed Jess's previous actions. "Home sweet home...NOT!" She said laughing.  
  
Jess turned to her surprise evident on his face, "Rory?" he asked cocking one eyebrow up, "what did they put in your coffee?"  
  
"They drugged me up!" She said laughing, "No, it's not that I don't love my home, and my mom...it's just that she will nag, and nag, and nag.....to infinity. And she will probably try to find a snag in our story."  
  
"Huh" Jess nodded a few times to himself, "well I guess I could kidnap you, but the end result would probably just be more nagging." He shrugged, "so got a plan or are you just going to plead insanity?"  
  
Rory smirked, "I have no plan...except maybe to try to avoid everything that has to do with my arm and/or you."  
  
"So planning on pleading the fifth?" Jess asked, "so when she does the whole shining the bright light in your eyes, refuses food and drink, and beats you with a phone book you're still going to keep quiet about the whole thing?"  
  
Rory grinned, "I, Rory Gilmore, solemnly swear, to remain quiet as a...monk...or a nun in my case even if I am beaten or starved to death," She said seriously.  
  
Jess laughed, "I feel like I should salute you or somethin," he bit his lip thinking then decided to say, "Ma'am, yes ma'am. Of course you do realize that a few hours without coffee and you'll sing like a bird."  
  
"I will not! I can be very quiet if I want to...But if I'm to quiet then she'll think that somethings up...so I just won't say anything about you. And if she says something then I'll quickly change the subject." Rory said nodding to herself. "I'll play it safe."  
  
"okay." Jess said hoping that Rory would really be able to pull this off. 


	8. 8

Title: The Coffee is Always better at Lukes  
  
Summary: A story about a regular week in Stars Hollow which includes sprained wrists, shattered doors, ditching school, I love yous, fist fights and more. Reoccurring characters include Rory, Jess, Luke, Lorelai, and Dean.  
  
Rating: PG-13 just to be on the safe side, for mild language  
  
Spoilers: not really, perhaps some of season 3  
  
Disclaimer: Oh yeah, forgot about this, we don't own Gilmore Girls, the characters, the actors, the writers, or the town. They all belong to WB or Amy Sherman-Palladino or some other company that we are not at all affiliated with.  
  
A/N: We're really glad you all are enjoying the story, thanks for the wonderful reviews! And sorry for the delay in a new chapter, things have been crazy for me, so anyway here are some more chapters for ya. And hopefully we'll get back to updating daily.  
  
Lorelai arrived home to find the house empty and no sign of Rory. "I am going to kill her. No wait, I'm going to kill him and then ground her for life. No, get a hold of yourself, you are not Emily, you are not going to turn into Emily, there is going to be a logical reason why she isn't home yet." Lorelai was talking to herself as she searched for the cordless phone which as usual was lost somewhere in the house. She finally found it in the refrigerator, "How did you get here Sally?" Lorelai asked the phone as she started to dial Rory's cell phone but stopped halfway through. She sighed and hung up the phone, "Thirty minutes and I'm calling Luke." she said resolutely. Lorelai walked to through the house and turned off all the lights and decided to sit out on the porch and wait for Rory to show up. If she caught her daughter by surprise she would be more likely to get the whole story out of her.  
  
Rory ate her last donut and looked out the window to see them arriving at her house. "Thanks for the ride Jess...Hopefully we beat her."  
  
"Uh, Ror," Jess said seeing a very angry looking Lorelai sitting in the shadows of the porch, "I don't think that's going to happen tonight." He motioned toward the porch, "y'sure you don't want me to stick around?" he asked for a final confirmation.  
  
"Oh crap!" Rory yelled as she spotted her Mom, "What am I gonna do? I guess I'll tell her that i was really hungry since I haven't eaten in like...4 hours. No, you need to go. You cannot stay, it would be World War III! Thanks for the ride, I'll see you tomorrow...if I'm still alive." Rory said and hopped out of the car. She walked over to her Mom. "Hey Mom!" She said pretending like nothing had happened.  
  
"Good night Ror," Jess said to Rory's back as she headed toward the porch. "And off to Luke's we go," Jess said in a sing-song voice to himself, he could just imagine the kinds of things Luke had in store for him.  
  
"Funny thing happened when I got home tonight," Lorelai said with a tinge of anger in her voice, "I opened the door and went inside expecting to find my daughter studying her heart out over an English book and instead I found nothing, well actually I found the phone in the fridge, but that's not the point." Lorelai was beginning to ramble, she took a breath, "okay, let's start over and I promise not to let me head explode." She took another deep breath, "Rory, flesh of my flesh, where were you? Were you trying to make mommy go crazy or was that just a bonus?"  
  
Rory sighed and sat down next to her mom. "I'm going to tell you the truth...We were almost home and I saw a sign for Dunkin Donuts and I was really hungry and I wanted to stop and get some donuts and coffee...so we stopped and we got it to go because I didn't want you to worry" Rory sighed  
  
"...and I'm sorry that you freaked out." Rory finished, sincerely.  
  
Lorelai sighed and eyed Rory suspiciously, "well apparently that coffee addiction of mine is prevalent in my offspring. The only thing I don't get is why you didn't bring me back any donuts, or coffee for that matter." Lorelai pretended to whimper like a puppy. "I can forgive you this one time though," she said as she got up and opened the front door, "but I have to ask something sweets, the whole English thing, true or false?"  
  
Rory really didn't want to hurt her feelings and she knew that if she told her that she would rather go home with Jess that she'd be mad. "That's true...I may have over exaggerated it a little but I do have an English test tomorrow." Rory answered with her fingers crossed behind her back.  
  
Lorelai eyed her suspiciously, "Rory, you know that even though Jess isn't one of my favorite people, and I enjoy thinking up new methods of cruel and unusual punishment I could use on him, I get that he's your boyfriend and that you want to spend time with him and I just want you to know that that's okay with me, I don't want to turn into my mother, telling you where to be at all times. Just remember that ok, kiddo?" Lorelai said, letting on that she understood Rory's real reason behind the English test. She hugged her daughter. "Well it's late and I'm exhausted from dealing with all those stupid billing people, so I'm going to bed. Tomorrow we can talk about the whole locked in Luke's storage closet thing." Lorelai said as she headed up the stairs. "Oh and don't stay up too late studying."  
  
Meanwhile Jess drove back to Luke's and parked the car and got out and tried to get into the diner but it was locked, he searched his pockets for the key but apparently had forgotten it inside. "Luke!" he yelled at the door, "c'mon let me in!" the light flickered off in the apartment. "Luke! Let me in!" still no response, "LUKE!!!!!"  
  
Rory smirked, "That should be an interesting story!" Rory yelled after her and walked into her room and shut the door. She changed into her pajamas and looked at the clock. "1:20, dang it's late," she mumbled to herself before climbing into bed and shutting off the light. "Goodnight Mom!" She yelled loudly.  
  
Luke could hear Jess outside yelling for him, he really wanted to teach Jess a lesson about being locked out or in or whatever. Luke went to the window and opened it up, "You can stay out there tonight and see how you like being locked out!" Luke yelled down. It wasn't a particularly cold night and Luke knew Jess could sleep in the car.  
  
"Fine!" Jess shouted back up to Luke. "You do know this is child abuse!" Jess yelled just loud enough to make sure all the neighbors heard what was going on. He then stormed back toward the car and got in, deciding not to drive around he got out and walked to the bridge, 'I'll just stay here all night and make him wonder.' Jess thought to himself as he lay down on the cold wood and stared up at the stars.  
  
Luke was peaking through the blinds as he watched Jess walk away, so he went downstairs and unlocked the door then went back upstairs and went to bed. He figured Jess would come back sometime after he cooled down a bit. It was the usual 5AM when the alarm sounded for Luke to get up and prepare for the day. He got out of bed and looked around the room, there was no sign of Jess. "This is just great," Luke said bitterly as he got dressed and began to make a mental list of places Jess might be.  
  
Sometime during the middle of the night...  
  
Jess got up off of the cold damp boards and headed back toward the diner, prepared to break in if need be. To his surprise the door was already unlocked, "thanks a lot, Luke." Jess mumbled sarcastically as he went into the storage unit pulled out one of the spare blankets Luke kept back there and curled up behind the counter and went to sleep.  
  
Lorelai twist and turned all night, she woke up when the sunlight started peaking through her window. "UGH!" she moaned hiding her head under the pillow, finally she pulled herself out of bed, showered and dressed. "Now what?" she asked as she realized no one in there right minds would be up at this time...except Luke..."coffee goooood," she murmured as she wrote a note for Rory telling her where she was going and to meet her later, and then left the house, maybe go for a walk and then get some of the elixir of life from Luke.  
  
Luke threw on a pair of pants and the classic plaid shirt and began stomping through the apartment looking for the phone while he mumbled incoherently about nephews, phones, and jam hands. Finally giving up he stalked downstairs and grabbed the phone from behind the counter, not noticing Jess and dialed The Gilmore Household. "C'mon answer," he grumbled into the ringing phone. And then he heard a groan come from behind the counter, dropping the phone he turned around to see Jess rubbing the sleep from his eyes.  
  
"Jeez," Jess said his voice still hoarse from sleep, he looked around trying to remember why he was behind the counter, "y'think you could keep it down Luke?" He got up and began to head upstairs.  
  
Luke grabbed the back of Jess's shirt and pulled him back toward the counter, "Where do you think you're going!" he asked exasperated. "First I get locked in the stupid storage room for hours, then I have to spend even more time in the hospital for something that I know you caused, even though I still don't know how, and then you disappear and I have to panic wondering where you are." Luke's voice got higher and angrier as he continued to rant at Jess.  
  
"Didn't know you cared," Jess practically spat, "and first of all, did you really mind being stuck with Lorelai, I mean why don't you two just go at it already and be done with it, second you know that I would never intentionally hurt Rory. You know that Luke! And last as I recall you locked ME out, so what did you expect me to do. It's your own fault you panicked!" Jess turned, walked up the stairs, and slammed the door to the apartment causing the glass to crack and stormed into the bathroom, locked the door and prepared to take a shower. He sighed and bit his lip, his hands were trembling, "I always screw up, that's my job isn't it," Jess said silently to himself as he turned on the water and drowned out the sound of Luke yelling at him from downstairs.  
  
"Dammit! You're paying for that!" Luke yelled in the direction of upstairs as he sat down on the stool and put his face in his hands. "you suck at this Danes" he muttered to himself.  
  
Lorelai had entered the diner just as Jess had slammed the door and stood in the doorway not sure if she should leave or make sure Luke was okay. After she heard him muttering angrily at himself she decided to stick around. "hey Luke," she said cautiously, almost inaudible as she slowly approached him, "seems I've forgotten to change my calendar for the past few months, I hadn't realized it was the forth of July so soon. I mean with the fireworks and all." Luke looked up at her and she smiled and sat down on the stool next to him. "So wanna tell me why you were having a re- enactment of World War I in the diner?"  
  
Jess finished up getting showered, dressed, and presentable for the day in record time. After his outburst and the glass breaking he felt he needed to go downstairs and have it all out with Luke. He walked down the stair slowly to see Lorelai and Luke talking, "this is just great" he muttered unsure of whether to go back upstairs or go downstairs 


	9. Chapter 9

Title: The Coffee is Always better at Lukes

Summary: A story about a regular week in Stars Hollow which includes sprained wrists, shattered doors, ditching school, I love yous, fist fights and more. Reoccurring characters include Rory, Jess, Luke, Lorelai, and Dean.

Rating: PG-13 just to be on the safe side, for mild language

Spoilers: not really, perhaps some of season 3

Disclaimer: Oh yeah, forgot about this, we don't own Gilmore Girls, the characters, the actors, the writers, or the town. They all belong to WB or Amy Sherman-Palladino or some other company that we are not at all affiliated with.

A/N: Sorry for the incredibly incredibly long delay. We had written approximately 125 pages that were lost when the site in which they were hosted was hacked. We only managed to salvage a few of the pages and didn't have the heart to re-write most of it for the longest time. But I rediscovered this recently and felt bad for not updating and leaving all our readers out in the cold. So here is Chapter 9, expect almost more updates soon.

Rory woke up and went into the kitchen. She found the note on the kitchen table from her mom. She put on her uniform, grabbed her backpack, and began the short walk to Luke's. She arrived to find Luke and Lorelai talking at the counter and Jess standing by the stairs. "Hi everyone!" Rory yelled as she walked over to the counter.

Jess looked at her like she had just called the cops when he was trying to rob the bank, and debated fleeing up the stairs, but the decision was made when Lorelai and Luke turned to see Rory and then caught a glimpse of Jess on the stairs. He took a breath and continued down the stairs, walked up to Rory kissed her good morning and thought about making an escape out the door, but figured it wasn't a good idea to just abandon her. "Sorry 'bout the door," he muttered to Luke, "I'll pay ya back for it." he glanced over at Lorelai and decided to remain silent.

Rory was confused. "what happened to the door?" She asked frowning.

Jess shot her a "so you want to crucify me too" look and then said, "it, uh, broke." Hoping Luke wouldn't chime in and start ranting again.

Luke huffed loudly while glaring hard at Jess. He saw Lorelai out of the corner of his eye and decided to avoid the Jess-door thing for the moment. "Yeah things just magically break when Jess is around." he muttered, "so Rory how is your arm?" Luke asked knowing that it would drive Jess crazy and it would also maybe get the real answers to his and Lorelai's questions.

Lorelai glared hard at Jess pondering what to say and to whom to say it to.

Rory unconsciously grabbed and cradled her arm. "Oh, it's uh, pretty much the same as yesterday...it feels a little better," Rory answered timidly.

Jess wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close as if to protect her from Luke and Lorelai. He swallowed once and took a breath, "If you want to know what happened all you have to do is ask." he said bitterly, "and for your information this wouldn't have happened if someone hadn't scared the crap out of me by knocking down the racks in the store room. Rory had slipped earlier and as we were getting up you decided to re-enact Armageddon in the store room, and for some odd reason I was actually concerned for you so I pushed Rory out of the way to get to YOU. Next time I just won't worry about it." Jess practically screamed at Luke. His face felt flushed and he realized he had made yet an even bigger idiot of himself and walked out of the diner heading toward the bridge for some peace and quiet.

Rory's eyes grew big as she realized that he had just confessed to the 'crime.' Her face turned red as she tried to read the expressions on there faces. Lorelai looked pissed and Luke looked furious. She had to get out of there. "I'm gonna um, yeah," She said before running out the door after him. "Jess!" She yelled as she ran after him. "Wait!"

Jess stopped in mid-step waiting for Rory. "Damn," he muttered, 'guess I should have thought about Rory before I ran my mouth off.' he thought silently kicking himself. He stared down at his shoes waiting for her to catch up. She finally arrrived next to him and he opened his mouth to speak but didn't know what to say so closed his mouth and prepared to take whatever yelling and screaming she had in store for him.

'Oh no' Rory thought as she caught up to him 'what the hell are we going to do know...Lorelai...' She got in step with him and they walked silently together. Although neither of them said it, they both knew that they were going to the bridge. Rory finally spoke. "What the hell was that?" She asked as calmly as she could.

"Rory," Jess said softly, and then paused, "maybe," he stopped again. He turned to face her, "It's been a bad morning." he finished lamely with a hint of a 'can we drop this' tone in his voice.

"Well, I'm really sorry if it's been a bad morning, with you and all your door breaking...but you just blew our cover! And now we're both screwed! My mom is going to be pissed! But, I'm REALLY sorry if you had a bad morning!" Rory yelled without thinking.

"Get off it Ror, it's obvious they didn't believe us anyway. I may be a lot of things but I'm a really bad liar and you aren't that much better." Jess could feel himself beginning to yell and tried his best not to. "And as for the door and MY morning, he began at least you didn't spend half the night sleeping outside and the other half sleeping behind the counter of the diner. So maybe you really don't..." but he stopped refusing to say anything else he would regret. And turned to walk away.

Rory would have dropped it at that because she felt bad for him after learning his sleeping arrangements, BUT now she was really mad. "WHAT?" She yelled as she grabbed his arm with her good one. "What were you going to say? That I don't know anything? Well thats nice...thats lovely! I just must be retarded!" She ranted. She knew that she was blowing things out of proportion but she had to some steam off somehow.

"No," Jess yelled back, "I was going to say that maybe you don't realize that it's probably best that we came clean with Luke and Lorelai. He pulled his arm free from Rory's grasp, "See this is what happens when I actually care about someone, everything gets screwed up." He ran his hand over his face and looked at her and bit his lip and prepared to once again walk away.

Rory's face softened as she brought her eyes up from the ground to look into his eyes. Her eyes filled with tears and her chin quivered. She finally spoke. "I'm sorry," She said softly as her eyes returned to her shoes.

Jess sighed, he hated it when she cried, "Rory," he said quietly as he took her hands in his, not sure what to do exactly. "don't cry, it's okay. We'll work something out."

"I'm sorry," She said again, "It's just my mom is-" She broke off, not wanting to think about.

He pulled her close and hugged her. It felt so good having someone to support and to support him. "I don't know what to do about Lorelai...or Luke. But no more lies, it's not helping and I can't do this. Ok?" he asked into her hair.

"Do what?" She asked as she rested her head on his shoulder.

Jess felt so vulnerable around Rory he wanted to be entirely open with her but he wasn't sure how. "I can't continue going around acting like Luke doesn't matter and Lorelai's opininion of me doesn't matter either. Rory, the people who are important to you are important to me and Luke is family but I just, I don't know how to do 'this' " he blew out a breath trying to maintain his composure.

Rory laughed into his shoulder. "Do...you...realize...that...you're...psycho?" She asked slowly.

"Well at least I'm not the one standing here in the middle of a crisis laughing like a hyena," Jess said simply. Trying not to laugh at his own insanity.

"Ah, yes," Rory said in agreement. "The whole 'this' thing." She said smirking..she still didn't understand what 'this' was.

Jess shook his head and rolled his eyes, "Yes 'this', as in Lorelai is going to kill me, if Luke doesn't do that first, and none of this would really make a difference except for the fact that I've gotten used to things the way they are, and in the past twenty four hours it all seems to have gotten way out of control. And you don't seem to have any suggestions on what to do either." he mock chided

"Oh, that...well may i remind you that you," She said poking his cheek with her pointer finger, "dug your own grave...and we should probably widen that grave so that i can fit too."

Jess felt as if his head was spinning, angry yelling replaced with laughter and playful banter, he shook his head trying to make sure he was caught up with everything. And realized Rory probably thought he was saying no to what she said. "Huh," Jess replied with his trademark phrase, "either that or maybe you could help me out of this hole in the ground."

Rory sighed. "I don't think that I can. I really don't know what to do about this...my mom is going to whip her chain saw out and Luke is going to chase you with a frying pan." Rory said seriously, not even joking a little. "I don't have any idea what to do."


	10. Chapter 10

Title: The Coffee is Always better at Lukes

Summary: A story about a regular week in Stars Hollow which includes sprained wrists, shattered doors, ditching school, I love yous, fist fights and more. Reoccurring characters include Rory, Jess, Luke, Lorelai, and Dean.

Rating: PG-13 just to be on the safe side, for mild language

Spoilers: not really, perhaps some of season 3

Disclaimer: Oh yeah, forgot about this, we don't own Gilmore Girls, the characters, the actors, the writers, or the town. They all belong to WB or Amy Sherman-Palladino or some other company that we are not at all affiliated with.

A/N: Trying to make up for lost time with this quick update. Oh and if you like the style of this story check out our other fic, "Another Round".

Previously on Gilmore Girls…

"Ah, yes," Rory said in agreement. "The whole 'this' thing." She said smirking..she still didn't understand what 'this' was.

Jess shook his head and rolled his eyes, "Yes 'this', as in Lorelai is going to kill me, if Luke doesn't do that first, and none of this would really make a difference except for the fact that I've gotten used to things the way they are, and in the past twenty four hours it all seems to have gotten way out of control. And you don't seem to have any suggestions on what to do either." he mock chided

"Oh, that...well may i remind you that you," She said poking his cheek with her pointer finger, "dug your own grave...and we should probably widen that grave so that i can fit too."

Jess felt as if his head was spinning, angry yelling replaced with laughter and playful banter, he shook his head trying to make sure he was caught up with everything. And realized Rory probably thought he was saying no to what she said. "Huh," Jess replied with his trademark phrase, "either that or maybe you could help me out of this hole in the ground."

Rory sighed. "I don't think that I can. I really don't know what to do about this...my mom is going to whip her chain saw out and Luke is going to chase you with a frying pan." Rory said seriously, not even joking a little. "I don't have any idea what to do."

"I know," he said quietly, "look, I'll handle my end, but are you going to be okay dealing with the wrath of Lorelai?"

"I, I uh, I don't know what to say even...I shoot...what about you?" Rory asked concerned. "Well, since we're doing this whole honest thing...uh...nevermind."

Jess cocked one eyebrow up, "what?" he asked wondering what she was going to say.

"Oh, uh, it's nothing..really." Rory said unconvincingly.

"Oh really?" he asked not buying it. But had a feeling he might not get whatever it was out of her. He felt a smile begin to tug at the corner of his lips and did his best to hide it. "see like I said, you're a bad liar. But I'll be okay, I think I can pull off a pretty realistic Mission: Impossible if worse comes to worse. I just want to make sure that you can handle Lorelai and her chain saw."

"I think I can," She said nodding, "Um...okay...I'll uh...well...fine...I'll tell you what i was going to tell you."

Jess stood there waiting patiently. "ok" he said giving her time to say whatever it was she was going to say.

"Well, I," Rory sighed, "I just don't want to lose you again." Rory said quickly.

Jess chewed on his top lip thoughtfully, "You're not going to lose me Rory, I'm not going anywhere." and to break some of the tension he added, "unless you were serious about Lorelai and the chain saw in which case then, well, huh." he paused for a second, "I guess I'd just have to come back and haunt you." he smirked at her.

"Yeah," Rory said smirking. "Well, what do we do now? Should we go back to the Diner?"

"Well that depends, do you think there is going to be a mob of angry townspeople with pitchforks and torches waiting for us?" he asked sarcastically while his mind pondered various scenarios of what they should do.

"Oh, yeah. I can see that...I bet Taylor is leading it." She said grinning.

"Luke would have to lead a rebellion against Taylor, seeing as how I think he has first dibs on running me out of town with a frying pan and all," Jess replied, "so to the diner then?" he asked making sure she was ready to go back.

Rory sighed before responding. "To the diner."

"to the diner," he repeated as he leaned in and gave her a quick kiss and then put his arm around her waist and they began walking to the diner, "so the gameplan is, you hide Lorelai's chain saw and I beg for forgiveness?" he asked looking at her from the corner of his eye.

"But where would that leave Luke's frying pan?" She joked. "No, seriously, I would like to go first if thats okay." She said as they approached the door.

"Y'want me to wait out here?" he asked unsure if that's what she meant.

Rory laughed. "Oh, no. You're going in. I meant that I want to talk first."

"Darn, and I thought you were gonna let me off of this easy." he laughed, "ok, you talk first, I'll be standing behind you so no flying frying pans or chainsaws will hit me. ok?" he asked her. "So lead the way milady."

Rory opened the door and walked towards Luke and Lorelai, who happened to be in the same spot that they left them in. She clutched Jess' hand hardly before starting. "I know we have a lot of explaining to do. But please just let me talk without interrupting and then you can say whatever you want." Luke and Lorelai were silent. "Okay, uh, well alright we did lie about the accident and what Jess said was true, but it was a total accident. We would have told you that in the first place, and that was what he wanted to do, but I knew that you," She pointed at her mother, "Would blame it on him regardless, and I didn't want that to happen...last time something like this happened, he left town and you guys didn't talk to each for weeks. I was trying to prevent that. I'm sorry that we lied and I really hope that you'll consider what I've said before blaming anyone, because really it was no ones fault...and he should not have been falsely blamed..." She finished and squeezed his hand.

Lorelai gave Rory the we'll talk about this more in private look and then said, "so you've decided you want to go to law school?" Lorelai got up and approached Rory and Jess, she turned to Jess, "so you wanted to tell the truth," then she turned to Rory, "and you didn't want him too. How interesting." Lorelai scrutinized the two of them for a few more seconds. Then turned to Luke and said, "would you like to add anything before I pass out sentencing?"

Luke glared at Jess and then gruffly added, "You're cleaning up the store room and you're going to work extra hours for the next few weeks to pay for the glass you broke in the door. And Lorelai will decide when you get to spend time with Rory, if you get to spend time with Rory. Got it?" Luke growled as he muttered something about having to get the diner ready for the breakfast shift and headed back toward the kitchen to start cooking.

Lorelai went back and sat at the counter and stared at the two. "It's too early in the morning to make a rational decision. So let me just say I understand your reasons for lying, but you still lied sweets, you lied to your mother who I thought you knew you could tell anything to. And you," she said giving Jess the evil eye but then softening slightly, "you really wanted to tell me the truth?" she asked doubtful.

Rory answered for him. "Yes! He really did," Rory told her mother honestly, "And I'm really sorry that I lied...really. It was killing me, but i was trying to protect him."

Lorelai pondered what Rory said for a few seconds, "ok." she said simply making the two teenagers sweat this out a bit longer after she thought Rory and Jess were about to burst she said, "ok James Dean wannabe, you're off the hook this time, but you only get one mistake that I forgive and this ones yours so don't screw up again, or I will kill you. And mini-me, we'll have a long heart to heart later on about this," she eyed Jess then Rory, "oh and one of you can also buy me coffee and a danish." she added grinning at her ability to get a free breakfast.

Rory let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "Thanks mom," She said sincerely. She turned to Jess, "Would you like to buy breakfast for us?" She asked sweetly.

Lorelai laughed, "I taught you well young padawan." Just then the the cell phone went off, "hello," Lorelai answered, and caught Luke glaring at her from in the kitchen, she smiled at him and waved, "ok, I'll be right there Michel, bye." She turned to Rory and Jess, "you owe me breakfast tomorrow. I've gotta go in to work, something about a leaky pipe, bye sweets, c-ya later. Have a good day." and with that she grabbed the coffee cup Luke brought out and left the diner.

Rory glanced at Jess. "Well...that went pretty good, considering."

"You don't think it went too well, do you," Jess thought cocking one eyebrow up, "I mean it just seems to easy doesn't it?"

Rory frowned. She hadn't considered that. "So you don't think that that's all?"

Jess glanced toward the kitchen to make sure Luke wasn't eavesdropping, "I don't know," he looked at Rory, "you want to go upstairs to talk?" he asked glancing once more back toward the kitchen and then at the door as a few townspeople began to come into the diner.

"Yeah," She said nodding.

Jess led the way upstairs and once they got to the door he remembered he hadn't cleaned up the glass on the floor. "Careful," he told Rory as he navigated the way around the glass shards and shut the door behind them. "So," he looked around making sure the room was semi-neat, "was Lorelai abducted by aliens or something while we were gone. I mean let's be honest, she really hates me yet she let me off the hook." Jess knelt down and began to clean up the glass, "and I don't want you to be blamed for everything, which is what appears to be the case at the moment, I mean, c'mon Ror the wrist thing was entirely my fault."

"No it was not! It was an accident. The definition of an accident is an 'event occurring by chance or unintentionally' and that is what it was." Rory said as she bent down and started to help him with the glass.

Jess sighed, "Yeah it was an accident but I still feel awful about it and about the fact that from that look on Lorelai's face you haven't heard the last of this." Jess looked at her and realized she was helping with the glass, "you really don't need to help with that, _this_ in fact was my fault."

"Why did you do it?" She asked softly as she continued to pick up pieces with her one hand.

Jess glanced up at her trying to figure out how to explain and decided maybe it was best to see what Rory was thinking first, "why does it matter?"

Rory sighed. "I, just..." She couldn't think of a way to say what she was thinking without offending him and decided on, 'thought it might be nice to know why my boyfriend broke the glass out of a door."

Jess was a bit worried about Rory's reaction to his outburst at Luke so did his best to explain semi-delicately."Because your boyfriend is an idiot," Jess replied, "and because at times he gets upset and forgets to control his strength while closing the door. But I mean c'mon why would anyone want to have a huge section of the door in glass anyway?"

"Okay, first off, you are NOT an idiot, second, why were you mad, and third, who puts glass in doors anyways." Rory said glancing at him hardly.


	11. Chapter 11

Title: The Coffee is Always better at Lukes

Summary: A story about a regular week in Stars Hollow which includes sprained wrists, shattered doors, ditching school, I love yous, fist fights and more. Reoccurring characters include Rory, Jess, Luke, Lorelai, and Dean.

Rating: PG-13 just to be on the safe side, for mild language

Spoilers: not really, perhaps some of season 3

Disclaimer: Oh yeah, forgot about this, we don't own Gilmore Girls, the characters, the actors, the writers, or the town. They all belong to WB or Amy Sherman-Palladino or some other company that we are not at all affiliated with.

A/N: Trying to make up for lost time with this quick update. Happy Thanksgiving Everyone. And Please Read and Review!

Jess swallowed, "Luke and I were re-enacting World War III I'm surprised you didn't hear us from your house," Jess said as he began scooping up the glass a bit more quickly, "I was asleep behind the counter and then he was on the phone," Jess shook his head and closed his eyes trying to remember the order of things that happened that morning, "and he sounded upset on the phone so I said something to him, and everything just blew up from there about him locking me out and how he was worried about me not being here even though he locked me out." Jess was beginning to ramble a bit, thinking about it just confused him even more than before. "Jeez," he yelped as he cut his palm open on a piece of glass. "I hate glass!"

Rory frowned "Well, I'm sorry about your fight and I'm sorry that I got mad at you this morning because I didn't know why you were mad...and where do you keep your band-aids?" Rory asked as she stood up.

"It's fine, really, you have nothing to be sorry about, you didn't know" Jess said, as he got up and threw out the glass he had collected, "and I'm sorry I yelled at you this morning, and told Luke and Lorelai everything. It just kinda happened." he went to the sink and turned on the water and rinsed his hand and wrapped a towel around it. "Not sure where Luke keeps the band-aids and I don't really think that asking is a good idea." he said to Rory .

"Okay," She said as she walked over to him and threw her glass in to the trash can. "Let me see it," She said as she reached out for the towel.

Jess looked at her as if he never expected her to say that, "it's okay really, you don't have to. It's fine." he said as he let her remove the towel.

She scrunched her face up in disgust as she saw it. "Ew, it's bleeding!" She exclaimed, "I am going to find a band-aid." She informed him as she walked quickly to the bathroom and began to dig around in the drawers. "Ah ha!" She yelled from the bathroom, "I found one!" She came out holding a band aid and neosporin. She grabbed his hand tenderly and put some neosporin on it.

"Rory really you don't have to do this, it's fine." he said as he tried to squirm away from her. But that seemed pretty much useless. "Thanks," he sighed, giving up and letting her fix his hand.

She put the band-aid on before looking up at him. "Well I couldn't let you BLEED to death could I?" She asked smiling.

"Somehow I doubt that I would have bled to death," he smirked, "of course I guess now we'll never know for sure." he winked at her. "So since you helped me clean and kept me from bleeding to death, can I make you breakfast?" he asked her trying to make up for everything that had happened that morning.

Rory grinned, "That's the way to win a girl's heart." She said laughing, "I'm starving...I haven't eaten anything since my donuts last night," She said sounding as if she was famished.

Jess laughed, "wow what's it been eight hours and you haven't passed out from the starvation, I'm impressed." Jess teased. "So let's see," he started rummaging through the cabinets and then the refrigerator. "We've got cereal, pancake mix, frozen waffles, eggs, bacon, um...something that looks like yogurt or maybe cottage cheese, either way it's probably not safe to eat," Jess remarked as he rattled off a list of food in the house, "so any requests?" he asked Rory as he shut the fridge and turned to face her.

"I'll take pancakes, and bacon...please." Rory responded as she sat down in a chair.

Jess started pulling out the measuring cup, bottle of oil, and a mixing bowl. Then grabbed the pancake mix and read the instructions on the back. "Can you," he started but then realizing it was Rory decided not to ask for help, "um...," now he had to come up with something better to say, "uh, set the table?" he finally finished.

Rory jumped up from the chair. "Yeah, sure, I guess," _It should be easy enough_ "Where is your silverware?" She asked as she looked around the kitchen.

"Uh," Jess was trying to measure the ingredients and talk at the same time, "second draw from the 3/4...I mean left." Jess said as he finished measuring out all the ingredients and began mixing them. "Plates are in that cabinet," he pointed to the cabinet to the right.

She grabbed the silverware and the plates and started to set them on the table. She put the fork on the right side of the plate and the knife on the left side of it. She hoped that she was doing it right. "Okay, I'm done." She said smirking as she watched him cook.

He glanced up at her, "I'm impressed Miss Gilmore," he teased as he smiled at her and began pouring pancake batter into a frying pan and then went into the fridge to get the bacon out. "How much bacon should I make?" he asked her as he began to open the package.

"Uh...I don't know...whatever you want...how many can you eat?" She said indecisively as she walked into the kitchen and sat on the counter.

"huh" Jess pondered to himself as he took out ten slices of bacon and turned back to look at Rory for approval.

"Yeah, that's good...so, uh...why were you sleeping outside?" Rory questioned and turned to him, waiting for a response.

Jess turned looking at her like she was crazy and the he realized that he hadn't explained about the fight that he and Luke had the night before. "Luke was pissed that we locked him in the store room. So he locked me out of the diner." Jess said simply as he turned back to the bacon hoping Rory would drop the subject.

"And you had to sleep outside?" She asked wide-eyed. "That's terrible!"

Jess shrugged, his back still toward Rory. He chewed on his bottom lip while he expertly flipped the bacon. "Huh," he said when it sizzled in the pan, "think breakfast is ready."

"Good...I'm starving.." Rory looked at her watch and her eyes widened. "Oh my gosh! I'm going to be late for school!" She exclaimed. "...maybe I should call mom and ask her if maybe I should stay home today...cause of my wrist...And what about you! You're gonna be late too!"

Jess seemed to ignore the urgency in Rory's voice as he turned off the stove and placed pancakes and bacon onto two plates and then brought them over to the table. "Really just don't feel like going today." Jess said calmly as he got up and poured himself a glass of orange juice. "Juice?" he asked.

Rory raised her eyebrows. "Juice! What about school! I have never EVER ditched school...well, with the exception of that one time that I went to visit you in New York...but that wasn't the whole day even..." Rory sighed in frustration. "So you just 'don't feel like it' so you don't go to school?"

"I guess that's a no for the juice then." Jess said calmly as he put it back in the fridge, "and just to clarify things, I didn't tell you to skip school, Ror. I simply said that I didn't feel like going." he sat down at the table and picked up the fork and started to cut the pancakes, "so no, I don't think that I'm gonna go today."

Rory glared at him. "Well...well...well" Rory stuttered, "If I left for school now...there would be no way that I'd make it on time and that would screw with my records." She walked over to the phone and dialed Lorelai's number. "Hey, mom...uh, I kinda just remembered that it was a school day...so I would be late if I left now...really?...are you sure?...no!...okay...love you too...bye." She walked back to the table and sat down. "She said that she'll call the school and have them excuse me for my arm." She stated before grabbing her fork.

Jess felt like he had just gotten whiplash from Rory's behavior, 'wasn't she pissed that I wasn't going to go?' he thought to himself as he stared at her in disbelief. "So in that case, coffee my dear?" Jess asked after he recovered from her ditching school, as he got up to make a fresh pot of coffee for Rory.

She looked at him hardly. "Yeah...So do you do this often?" She asked indifferently.

Jess could feel the temperature in the room drop at least 10 degrees, he glanced back at Rory, trying to think of the most honest answer that would get him into the least amount of trouble. "Not that often," Jess replied as he carefully measured out the coffee refusing to look back at Rory. "I mean it's not like I have a reason to feel like not going everyday."

Rory made a buzzing noise. "I'm sorry, that's the wrong answer. Please try again." She said coldly.

Jess was beginning to feel this was getting ridiculous. He turned to face her finally, "I skip occasionally...maybe once every few weeks, it's not that big of a deal Rory."

"Fine," She said before starting to eat her pancakes. She looked back up at him. "What about your grades?"

"What is this a trial?" Jess couldn't help it, he felt like she was challenging him. "Well your honor, my grades are fine, peachy even." He sighed and and ran his hands over his face. He stared right at her, "What do you want from me, Ror? What do you want me to be?" he asked, the sarcasm was almost entirely gone from his tone.

She didn't really know how to answer that. She finally decided to dodge the question. "I'm not trying to change you Jess...You're aren't a sharing kind of person and I know that. I also know that if I don't ask, then I'll never know...so I ask...I mean, who knows what's going on with you...for all I know, you could be flunking out of school and only showing up once ever other week." Rory said as she stared down at her plate.

"And if that was the case then you wouldn't be sitting here right now eating breakfast would you?" Jess asked her, "I mean let's be honest here Rory, if I were doing something like that then you would probably have nothing to do with me." Jess raised his eyebrows waiting for a response...but yet also fearing her response.

"Well," She started, "That is not necessarily true..." She tried to find the words that she was looking for "...I do not base who I talk to or who I don't talk to on they're GPA. That's very stereotypical. You took a beer from my fridge and I still talked to you. You got in about 5 thousand fights with my boyfriend and that didn't stop me from liking you...it didn't necessarily help, but still...I liked you for who you were...not for what you did."

"So if I were to never step foot in Stars Hollow High you'd be perfectly fine with that." Jess wasn't ready to let this go since he felt Rory had been avoiding his implications.

She glared at him again. "Well...what do you want me to say? No? I would hate that, I would immediately break up with you, I would never again talk to a stupid, useless, person like you. I would cringe if someone ever mentioned your name and I would tell my mother that she was right about you...and I would go running back to Dean!" She yelled annoyed.


	12. Chapter 12

Title: The Coffee is Always better at Lukes

Summary: A story about a regular week in Stars Hollow which includes sprained wrists, shattered doors, ditching school, I love yous, fist fights and more. Reoccurring characters include Rory, Jess, Luke, Lorelai, and Dean.

Rating: PG-13 just to be on the safe side, for mild language

Spoilers: not really, perhaps some of season 3

Disclaimer: Oh yeah, forgot about this, we don't own Gilmore Girls, the characters, the actors, the writers, or the town. They all belong to WB or Amy Sherman-Palladino or some other company that we are not at all affiliated with.

Jess wasn't entirely sure that she was joking. In his mind he knew she was just trying to make a point that that wouldn't happened but he still had a nagging feeling about the whole thing. He took a breath, "Would you?" he asked quietly.

Rory sighed and got up and walked over to him. "You know I wouldn't," She said as she wrapped her arms around him. "I would not do any of that...ever."

Jess held her gaze for a minute. "I know," he swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat and gave her a quick kiss. "I just don't want you to regret anything, or wonder what could have been."

She looked at him. "Regret...what?" She frowned. "Not going back to Dean!" She furrowed her eyebrows in disgust. "If I wanted to be with him, then I wouldn't be here," She informed him. "And...the only thing that I wonder is, that whenever he gets married, to whoever she may be...if they have kids..." Rory smirked. "I wonder if they'll be little over-possessive, jealous Frankensteins just like him."

Jess laughed, "I didn't mean going back to bag-boy, I meant...let's just forget it, the thought of mini-bag boys is just too funny."

"Well, what did you mean?" She asked frowning.

"I meant that I don't want you to one day realize that I've held you back from anything...nothing specific just anything." Jess shrugged, the mini-frankenstein comment had loosened up the tension at least for him although Rory looked a bit stressed again. He looked at her, kissed her in a sweet gesture to distract her and began tickling her.

"Stop it!" She said as she laughed and swatted at his hands.

Jess shook his head trying to be very serious. "It's your day off, and it doesn't seem like you were having very much fun. So I figured I just have to do something to fix that." he answered as he continued to tickle her.

"Well...I don't really know how to have a 'day off'...so teach me," Rory said as she continued to swat at his hands.

Jess grinned with the kid in the candy store look in his eye, "You sure about that Rory?" he asked, having momentarily forgotten about tickling her.

She grabbed his hands to keep him from starting again before answering. "Yes...well, I think so...should I be scared?" She asked smirking.

"Oh yes, very scared," he said mock seriously as he matched her smirk, and the wheels in his head began turning, they could do anything, well anything within reason and that Lorelai and Luke wouldn't kill them for. The problem was what exactly should they do. Rory did say that she wanted to know how to enjoy a day off, of course most of his days off involved sleeping till noon and then reading on the bridge which wasn't very thrilling. He grinned at her, "let's clean up and then the fun shall begin." he said as he headed toward the table to clear the dishes.

"Okay...I'm following your lead." Rory said as she grabbed her plate and took it to the sink. "What are we going to do?" She asked curiously.

"It's a secret," Jess answered matter-of-factly, as he began washing the dishes. "But I promise you'll love it." he smirked at her.

Rory smiled. "Allright, I bet I will."

Jess finished up the dishes and cleaning the kitchen and was beginning to formulate an actual plan, although he wasn't entirely sure how it was going to go. "So do you have any real qualms about going into Hartford for awhile?" Jess asked nonchalantly.

"None that I can think of...you can do whatever you want...you're the master of this." Rory said as she leaned against the counter.

Jess nodded his head slightly, "huh." he said looking at her, "just one quick thought, Lorelai won't kill me, will she?"

She looked at him and wondered what he was thinking. "I don't know...you decide."

Jess laughed, "I meant about driving you all the way to Hartford and back, I mean she isn't exactly fond of my driving and all." Jess paused, "why, what did you think I was talking about?"

Rory blushed and laughed nervously as she looked around the room. "This is a very nice kitchen," She commented as she avoided the question.

"Yes it is," Jess said unconvincingly as he watched Rory with her crimson cheeks look at everything but him "was there something you'd rather do today?" he asked slyly knowing that she was probably going to hit him any minute.

Rory's cheeks darkened as she squirmed around. "No...nothing in particular." She answered as she finally brought her eyes up to meet his.

"I guess we should get ready to go then," Jess said finally deciding to stop teasing her before things got really awkward.

"Yes, let's do that." Rory said as she grabbed her purse, which she had brought this morning and headed towards the door.

"Um," Jess grabbed her arm before she made it out the door, "one thing, how good are you at sweet talking Luke?"

Rory froze. "Oh, no. I totally forgot about Luke! What are we going to do!" Rory asked frowning.

Jess shrugged, "maybe I should have thought about that before." He bit his upper lip thinking. "How willing do you think Lorelai would be to loan us the jeep? Or perhaps we could just borrow Luke's truck. I mean maybe if you asked him he'd say yes" He was thinking out loud hoping maybe Rory would come up with something.

Rory started pacing. "Oh, yes. I bet my mom would just let us use the jeep. She would love that. You actually think that Luke would openly let you ditch?" Rory ranted. "Maybe...the bus?"

Jess shook his head. "I'm gonna go talk to Luke," he began to walk toward the door, "stay here, I'll be back once he agrees to let us use the truck."

Her eyes practically popped out of her head. She turned around and grabbed his arm. "Jess!" She yelled, "Are you out of your mind?" He shrugged. "Well...if you're not back in 50 years, then I want you to know that I escaped out the window, climbed a tree and walked home." She leaned forward and kissed him.

"Okay," Jess replied, "I'll be back, and soon." And with that Jess disappeared out the door to find Luke and more than likely lie to him about why he needed the truck.

Rory sat down on the couch and waited for awhile before standing back up and walking into his room. She picked up a book, sat down on his bed, and started to read.

About fifteen minutes later Jess came back upstairs and looked around the apartment. "Rory?" he called not seeing her in the living room or the kitchen, "don't tell me she really climbed down a tree," Jess muttered as he continued his search through the tiny apartment, he looked in his room and there she was on his bed reading. He perched himself against the door jamb and asked, "having fun?"

Rory jumped off the bed and looked up. "You scared me!" She said as she set down the book. "So...?"

Jess fished the keys out of his pocket and dangled them in front of her. "Sorry I scared you, so do I need to make sure you didn't steal any of my books or CDs?"

"Ha," She said smirking, "That's funny...so what'd you tell him?" She asked curiously.

"Just that you needed to pick up some books from school since you couldn't go because of your wrist and Lorelai was really busy at work and couldn't do it." Jess said as he walked toward his book shelf and scanned the titles finally finding what he was looking for and handing it to her, "you might want to read this one," he suggested as he went to his dresser got his wallet and began to leave the room. "Ready? Or did you want to climb down the tree instead?"

Rory smirked "Thank you. That's a good plan. Yeah, I think the door would probably be smart, unless you want me to break my other wrist." Rory said as she stuck the book in her purse and headed towards the door.

"We wouldn't want that, now would we." Jess said as he led her to the door, "and if you have an issue with lying" he said before he opened the door, "I really could take you to Chilton."

Rory walked out the door before turning around and smacking his arm. "No, I believe you're the one with the lying problem if I'm not mistaken...and do you WANT me to go to school?"

"Only if we can make out in the broom closet," Jess responded as he led her down the stairs and out the diner without a word to Luke.


	13. Chapter 13

Title: The Coffee is Always better at Lukes

Summary: A story about a regular week in Stars Hollow which includes sprained wrists, shattered doors, ditching school, I love yous, fist fights and more. Reoccurring characters include Rory, Jess, Luke, Lorelai, and Dean.

Rating: PG-13 just to be on the safe side, for mild language

Spoilers: not really, perhaps some of season 3

Disclaimer: Oh yeah, forgot about this, we don't own Gilmore Girls, the characters, the actors, the writers, or the town. They all belong to WB or Amy Sherman-Palladino or some other company that we are not at all affiliated with.

Author's Note: HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

"Hmm...," She said, playing along. "I don't know...it might be a little small, with the brooms and other janitor stuff."

"Good point," Jess agreed, "how bout an empty classroom in that case?" he smirked at her, as he opened up the door to the truck for her and then shut it going around to get in on the other side.

Rory shook her head, "That doesn't happen very often. Let's stay away from Chilton today."

He smirked, "okay, so we won't ruin your reputation today." Jess agreed as he drove down the road heading for Hartford mall.

"Sounds good to me." Rory said looking out the window. "So...are you going to tell me where we are going yet?"

He glanced over at her, "well I guess it couldn't hurt at least to tell you where we are going at the moment," Jess responded trying to drag it out just to annoy her a bit, "well there's this place your mom occasionally raves about, bought Luke a ton of clothes there, I believe it was Hartford mall or something like that." Jess glanced back at Rory trying to see if this was a good idea or a bad idea.

Rory looked at him curiously. "Hmm...in the shopping mood are we? You know, you could use some new clothes..." She broke off with a grin on her face.

Jess looked at her like she had just sprouted another three heads. "You've gotta be kidding," Jess replied, "there is nothing wrong with my clothes." he said defensively, but after thinking on it for a few seconds he added, "why, do you really not like the way I dress?"

Rory rolled her eyes playfully. "I was just kidding. I love your clothes...so what are we going to do at the mall?"

"Did you forget to tell me we were playing 20 questions?" Jess teased. "Well I remember someone mentioning something about dragging me to an 'event' on Friday night so I figured you would need to do the whole new outfit and accessory thing, not to mention the mall has a book store, music store, and of course the carousel and food court."

Rory smiled, "I had forgotten all about that thing...and you don't think that you'll get to have a turn buying a whole new outfit?" She laughed, "The carousel, huh?"

"We'll just see about that new outfit," Jess responded, "and yeah the carousel, why you have something against wooden horses that go around in a circle?"

Rory laughed, "Well, I just figured that you probably would. You know...the whole macho thing."

Jess looked at her conspiratorially, "wanna know a secret?" he asked her seriously.

She looked at him amusingly, "Sure."

"okay, if you repeat this to anyone I will have to kill you," he said before he began, "my deep dark secret is..."he paused for dramatic effect, "I've always loved the carousels, of course I can only go on them when" he did the air quotes with one hand since he was driving, "my girlfriend wants to."

Rory smirked. "Oh well, then you should be happy to know that I love the carousel and I promise I won't tell...very many people," She glanced at him playfully.

Jess ignored her and decided it might be best to explain his love of the carousel so she wouldn't go on a tangent to Lorelai and Lane about Jess's obsession with wooden horses, or something odd like that, "I mean doesn't the carousel just seem...romantic," Jess couldn't seem to find the right words to use without sounding sappy, "I mean you ever see the older couples sitting on the benches in the carousel just riding along." Jess shrugged, "it just seems to be a nice concept, something I read in a play or a poem or somewhere. Just kinda stuck with me, y'know."

"Aww...my boyfriend the carousel rider," She glanced over at him, "That's cute...and I wouldn't have told anyone anyway."

"good, cause I'd hate to have to kill you," Jess teased. "Well looks like we're here," he said as he pulled into the parking lot and began the search for a perfect spot.

She looked out the window. "Oh! There's one right there!" She yelled and pointed to it.

Jess pulled the car into the spot and turned off the engine. He took a breath and looked at her, "I hope I'm not going to regret this," he teased as it seemed to him she had that shopping gleam in her eye.

Rory leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "We're going to have fun," She guaranteed.


End file.
